Three Days, Five Steps
by StaminaRose
Summary: How long should it take to fall in love? TsukasaMisao Fluff fiction. Now with its sequel "Lucky Leap".
1. T:D:S

Disclaimer: I do not own Lucky Star, nor its characters. All property goes to its original creators.

Pairing: TsukasaXMisao

Before I begin, I would like to thank RezleVettems for encouragement and help given, as well as inspiring me to write a Lucky Star fiction. If not for Rezle, then none of this fiction would have been created. The Lucky Summer series - despite all its clichés and flaws - is still among the best things I've read, and I will be happy if my fictions ever get that good.

* * *

The warmth of the early afternoon sun felt refreshing to the girl, as she practically skipped down the road from the train, swinging her handbag as she went. Encouraged by the weather she had worn nothing more than a pair of short jeans and a thin blue lace top, and was now appreciating the wisdom of her choice, relishing the warm feeling she got through the shirt's material. On her feet were a pair of rarely worn sandals that had also seemed like a good idea, but she did find it slightly annoying having to take a second to slip them back on after every dozen steps or so.

Humming an old tune lightly to herself, Misao stopped for a second and took a look around, quickly locating Kagami's house. It felt slightly weird going there alone after so many years of going with Ayano beside her, but her other friend had gone out with her boyfriend and would be arriving from another direction, so it couldn't be helped. Hoping the study session was going to have less studying than had been implied, the brown haired girl approached the front door, noticing the family car wasn't in the driveway.

"Hiiragi-Chan~~" She called lightly through the door whilst firmly pressing the doorbell with her thumb, though she didn't think the she would actually hear her through the door. The bell continued on a constant ring as the grinning girl refused to let go, knowing that the continuous buzzer would annoy her friend (a duty she adored performing, which apart from being incredibly fun also distracted the Kagami from studying).

"I'm coming!" Misao was just able to hear the voice calling from somewhere inside the house, and a second later she heard the stamping of feet as someone ran down the stairs.

"Hey Hiiragi-Chan!" Misao said happily as the door was flung open, yearning for the angry retribution that was sure to come. "Oh, wrong Hiiragi-Chan, I didn't expect Hiiragi's little sister." Tsukasa peered out shyly from behind the door so only her head was visible. Her hair was wet and hanging down from her head, heavy with water.

"Oh, Kusakabe-San. Are you looking for Oneechan?"

"Yep," Misao nodded her head vigorously, stopping only when it made her slightly dizzy. "We're gonna have a study session." She added gloomily before perking up again, changing mood in an instant. "Didn't Hiiragi tell you?"

"No, I just woke up…" Tsukasa said sheepishly, knowing full well it was almost two in the afternoon. "Um… please come in, I don't think she's here at the moment, but you're welcome to wait for her." The door was opened and Misao stepped through. "I was just having a shower when you started ringing. I thought it was an emergency or something…"

"I wouldn't have guessed." Misao smirked as she saw what the girl was wearing, or rather, what she wasn't. A single dampening towel was all that protected her decency, but the tightness with which she held it around herself left very little to the imagination.

Tsukasa blushed heavily under her gaze, and stuttered out an invitation upstairs. Misao followed happily, smirking as she saw the shy girl attempt to run out of her gaze whilst still holding the towel tightly enough to avoid accidentally showing anything off, two goals that worked against each other. The entire display was nothing short of adorable to her guest, who watched with a poorly concealed grin.

"Um, if you'd like to go into Oneechan's room and wait for her, I'll go get dressed properly." Without another word, Tsukasa ran into her own room, leaving Misao to go into Kagami's.

'_Hiiragi's sister is pretty sweet, cute too.' _Misao thought to herself as she jumped heavily onto Kagami's bed, relishing the way the covers were thrown upwards, transforming the ridiculously neat bed into a good, respectable mess. _'But for twins they're really not alike. She's more like Ayano than anyone else.' _Misao nodded as the thought passed through her head, as if she was agreeing with herself. Though for some reason she doubted the girl had her best friend's rare but terrifying temper, something she herself had only ever seen twice. Tsukasa seemed like someone who could never ever get mad at anyone. _'Then again, so did Ayano until I saw it…' _

Had this been Kagami, Misao would have set up a situation sure to make her mad to test out just how scary she could be. But since it was not her easily annoyed friend, she really didn't feel like it. Playing a trick on someone who was so innocent and childlike seemed too much like bad sportsmanship.

Misao got up from the bed and looked around for something else to mess up, but found her ammunition was scarce. Kagami's room was, but for a few light novels and some pictures, pretty plain. At least compared to most teenaged girls she knew. It was bizarre how clean and neat the room was, where were the sweet wrappers? Where were the clothes thrown haphazardly around? Where were the sheets of unfinished homework, drifting around the room but never being done? It was like no one even lived here!

The golden eyed girl hoped that Tsukasa hadn't fallen to the same routine with her room, bedrooms were supposed to have the character of the person they belonged to! What did this place say about Kagami? _'That she's cold and barren? Actually, that fits pretty well._' Misao chuckled to herself, before getting bored and searching around the room for something to do. _'If they fit the person, I bet Tsukasa's is filled with stuffed animals.' _Misao thought to herself. _'And blankets. She's probably got a bed filled with fluffy things.'_

When Tsukasa came in she had to look again to make sure she what she was seeing was really happening, and not just taken out of context. Her first impression had been spot on however. Her sister's long time friend had located her underwear draw and was now rooting through it, making the occasional interested sound.

"Erm… Kusakabe-San? What are you doing?" She asked gingerly, expecting her to stop. Instead, Misao kept going without even jumping. Making it obvious she didn't care that someone knew she was going through an underwear drawer.

"Just looking for something." She answered happily, before holding up a bra between hands. "Wow, Hiiragi is bigger than I thought she was." Misao turned and smiled at the smaller girl, noting her choice of clothing in amusement. _'Pyjamas and a dressing gown, at two in the afternoon? I see, so she's the type who doesn't like to get dressed properly until they have to.'_

"Is that what you were looking for??" Tsukasa's frantic and embarrassed voice pulled her from her thoughts.

"No, I just thought it was interesting." She replied, flinging the item back into the drawer. "What I'm really looking for is Hiiragi's diary!"

"Diary?"

"Yep!" Misao paused briefly to remove something pink and frilly that had attached itself to her hand. "I thought they were always hidden in underwear drawers, so people wont find them when they look around." She remarked, sounding slightly disappointed as she closed the drawer for not finding anything.

"Um…" _'That trick doesn't seem to have worked on you…" _

"Say… you wouldn't know where Hiiragi keeps her diary, eh Imouto?" Misao turned and asked her, her voice thick with mischief.

"N-No." Tsukasa stuttered. "I don't think she has one." She said, sitting down on the floor with her head against the bed.

"Oh, of course. Why would someone like Hiiragi have a diary?" Misao huffed, sitting down next to Tsukasa with her head on her knees and her arms around her legs, waiting for a new idea to come. Tsukasa noted the disappointment in her voice, and felt slightly guilty for ruining her fun.

"Sorry…"

"Ah its okay Tsukasa-Chan." Misao replied happily, the life returning to her speech instantly.

"Why did you want it?"

"I want to figure out if Hiiragi likes anyone." Misao said shamelessly. "She's acting really jumpy lately, especially when I point it out. I think there's a crush involved."

"Um, I don't think she does." Tsukasa answered nervously. "You'd have to ask her."

"Nah, that won't work." Misao said waving her hand. "She's too scary for that."

"Scary?"

"Yeah, and angry." She added cheerfully.

"Um…" _'Aren't you supposed to be one of Oneechan's best friends?'_

"Say Imouto…" Misao started, smirking widely. "How about you? I bet you've got plenty of crushes!"

Tsukasa went redder than most tomatoes, suddenly finding her dressing gown too hot for her to wear comfortably.

"N-N-No." She stuttered even worse than before, leaning back slightly as the older girl leaned forwards grinning from ear to ear.

"Are you absolutely sure? Lil' Tsukasa-Chan~~" Their faces were inches apart, and Tsukasa felt sure a blood vessel would burst if she carried on blushing. It was the voice that did it. Misao had long ago perfected her drawn out suggestive croon to the point that it could have made statues sweat.

"Y-Yeah." Tsukasa managed to get out. "I don't really get a lot of people interested in me anyway." She said sadly. "Or any people actually…"

"What??" Misao asked, genuinely amazed. "Anyone who'd pass up someone as good-looking as you would have to be nuts!"

"Good-looking?" Tsukasa asked, surprised.

"What? Don't you think so?" The younger twin shook her head timidly. "Why not??"

"I'm nowhere near as thin or pretty as Oneechan…"

"Eh? What are you talking about?" Tsukasa jumped backwards, her back pressing hard into the side of the bed when she found that Misao had moved. The brown haired girl was now kneeling in front of her, staring her in the eyes. The movement had been so quick Tsukasa hadn't even seen it, but now the two of them were face to face, the taller girl examining her carefully. "I think you're just as good looking as your sister. Actually, I kinda always thought you were the better looking one." She admitted.

"Me? Why?"

"Because you've always got a sweet expression on you're face." Misao told her earnestly, her reddened cheeks showing the slightest hint of an embarrassment, which soon passed. "Unlike some people, you're always smiling and happy to see people, and you always looks really youthful. I've met girls who would kill to be as attractive as you!"

"R-Really?"

"Of course!"

If there was one thing Misao really had, it was confidence. The way she charged around boisterously - often with no regard for what people around her thought - was evidence of that. To Tsukasa, who had little confidence and relied on her sister for most things, it had often struck her as an amazing quality. It was for this reason that Tsukasa was entirely unable to disagree with her, and simply found herself smiling at the thought that perhaps she had misjudged her own appeal.

"Hey, you're smiling. Feeling better already?"

"Yep, thanks Kusakabe-San." Tsukasa told her guest warmly.

"I don't know. You sound like you still need cheering up…" Misao suggested playfully.

"Huh? What do you me-AHH!" Tsukasa couldn't help but jump violently as the girl above her began to wiggle her fingers at her sides, tickling her and forcing out hysterical giggles.

"Wow, I figured you'd be the type to be ticklish, but I didn't think it'd be this bad." Misao's voice announced her victory above her, a grin spreading across her face.

"Ah! Stop Kusakabe-San!!" She shrieked, trying but unable to get away as Misao pinned both of her hands to the bed behind her with just one arm, making it clear that despite her slim frame she was strong. It was at this point that Misao went for Tsukasa's unprotected armpits, and found the uncontrollable laughter could be upgraded to hysterical pleas for mercy.

"Nah. Why would I do that?" Misao answered mischievously, running her free hand up and down the weaker girl's stomach, finding every spot was sensitive to her ministrations.

"P-Please Kusakabe-San!!!" Tsukasa managed to get out through her laughter, trying everything she could to get the larger stronger, girl off of her, throwing her small weight around as violently as she could.

"Maybe if you call me something less formal."

"Please Misao!"

"Hmm… I don't know, still seems very formal." Misao barely paused before she began to tickle her again.

"Please Misa-Chan!!" Misao was surprised for a moment, as the name Tsukasa had thought of was identical to the one Ayano constantly called her. Another almost creepy reminder of their similarities, but she quickly dismissed it as nothing more than the coincidence it was.

"Good girl. See? Now I can stop doing this." Misao stopped her torturous administrations and Tsukasa collapsed below her as the tension suddenly left her body. The two had, in their combined struggles against each other, worked their way into the carpet in the middle of the room, allowing the exhausted girl to lie down fully.

Tsukasa closed her eyes and lay on the floor panting, feeling the weight shift above her as Misao moved to a more comfortable position for the both of them. And when the smaller girl reopened her eyes, she found herself fixated on Misao's face, as she looked down on her with a mixture of tenderness and amusement. For the next few minutes they stared at each other, a heavy blush coating Tsukasa's face as she stared into the eyes of the girl who kneeled over her. Slowly, with an uncertainty in her movements, Tsukasa propped herself up on her elbows so she could be closer to her. Misao responded by leaning in, her face giving nothing away about what exactly she thought was happening. Eventually they reached the point where only a few centimetres of air separated them, and where they could feel each others breath on their faces. By this point Tsukasa's face had reached a rosy red tint, which only increased the longer she stared into the large golden eyes. Misao's in contrast seemed to show no other emotion than innocent curiosity at the smaller girl's actions.

That expression was instantly replaced with confusion when she was all but thrown off of Tsukasa's stomach as the young twin jumped up and practically ran to the door. Misao lay sprawled on the carpet dazed at the speed of the movement, her wide eyes fixed on the blushing girl who had manoeuvred herself so the table was suddenly between them. _'Hiiragi's sister looks… scared.' _She thought to herself worriedly, automatically coming to the conclusion that she herself had done something wrong.

"Do you want a drink Misa-Chan?" Tsukasa said suddenly, forcing a smile onto her still red face.

"What?"

"A drink?"

"Um… Sure. Orange juice if you have it." Misao answered, confused more now than ever before. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

"But-" Before she could ask what the hell was going on, the girl had sprinted out the door and downstairs.

* * *

Tsukasa bustled around the kitchen, doing anything she could to keep her mind off whatever had happened. Their drinks were already made and waiting, and now she had moved onto tidying away what little mess there was. Once that was done however she found herself at loss. Simple tasks had kept her from thinking, but now it came flooding back. In a way she didn't even know exactly what had gone on, but whatever it was she was pretty sure it wasn't supposed to happen.

As she lifted her hand to her face she could feel the warmth of her blush, and spent the next few seconds pressing a cold washcloth to her face, trying to get rid of it. Still, she felt the rosy warmth across her body, and quickly discarded her dressing gown to try and cool down.

Even once that was done, and she had gotten herself back to a more steady composure, she really didn't want to go back upstairs. Perhaps if she had simply walked out calmly she could have gotten away with it all, but she had practically ran out the room. Misao had to know something was wrong, even if she had no idea of what, since the other girl didn't seem to be affected like her.

Her problem was compounded when she heard the door open and close.

"Tsukasa! I'm back!" Kagami called.

"Oneechan, where were you?" Tsukasa went quickly into the hall, where she found her sister standing next to Ayano, holding several grocery bags. "Oh, hello Minegishi-San."

"Hello." Ayano replied, smiling.

"We were short on snacks and stuff, so I went to the store." Kagami answered. "I met Ayano on the way back, so I came back with her."

"Has Misa-Chan arrived yet?" Ayano asked.

"Yes, she's upstairs." Tsukasa told her, trying to disguise any sense that anything was wrong. The orange haired girl thanked her and began walking upstairs, neither of the other two spotting the entirely understanding smile she sent at her friend's blushing unsettled sister.

"Are you okay Tsukasa?" Kagami asked her.

"Uh-huh."

"'Cause you look kinda red, and wet."

"I just got out of the shower before." It wasn't a lie, not exactly, but it still made her feel bad to keep the truth from her sister. Still, even had she wanted to tell the truth she had no idea what she would have said. Even she wasn't sure precisely what was wrong.

Quickly, Tsukasa made more drinks and followed her sister upstairs, walking into the room she had left Misao in. _'I'll just act like nothing happened.' _She told herself. _'After all, nothing really did happen.' _The thought filling her with confidence, she walked upstairs with the tray in her hands, setting it down on the table in Kagami's room.

The girls thanked her as they took out their textbooks, and Tsukasa turned to leave. For some strange reason she had never really gotten to know Misao or Ayano, and considered it rude for her to hang around when her sister had her friends over, thinking she would want her privacy with them. Kagami had never encouraged this, but she had never objected either. Likely she just hadn't noticed, so as usual the younger of the twins exited the room quietly, already at a loss for what she could do now her sister and best friend was engaged, but vaguely relieved she wouldn't have to explain herself Misao.

"Hey Tsukasa, where ya goin?" The cause of her worries asked, making the girl jump slightly.

"N-Nowhere. I just don't want to impose…" She answered timidly, relieved that Misao had only been giving an invitation and hadn't pushed her on her odd behaviour.

"Don't be silly, you're not imposing. Besides, its not fair if we're enjoying ourselves and you aren't."

"Enjoying ourselves? This is a study session." Kagami muttered in the background.

"Ayano, any objections?"

"Of course not. I'd love for Tsukasa-Chan to join in with us." Ayano told her, smiling warmly.

"Then its unanimous!" Misao announced.

"I don't have any objections either, but why don't I get asked? This is my room." Kagami said again, beginning to notice Misao wasn't paying attention to her.

"Thanks." Tsukasa sat down with them, and smiled despite herself as Misao began digging through her sister's bags for the snacks, head first.

"Hey! Get out of there." Kagami shouted.

"Never!" Came the muffled reply.

"And why is my underwear drawer open??"

"Sorry Oneechan, Misa-Chan was looking around."

"What?! Stop rooting around in my things!" Kagami shouted. "Minegishi, do something about her."

"I'm not sure I can." Ayano answered honestly. "Misa-Chan is a free spirit."

All who were present looked at the girl, who had managed to trap her arm in the strap of the plastic bag, and had one head in the bag itself, rustling around in the snacks for something she wanted.

"Free spirit my foot. Tsukasa, do we still have some of that repellent spray from when the neighbours dog kept chewing our newspapers?"

"Uh-huh." She nodded. "But will that really help?"

"Its bound to do something." Kagami replied darkly.

When the study session ended four hours later, Tsukasa guessed only around half had been spent doing work. Still, she was glad she had been invited in. The strange behaviour from before had passed into the depths of her memory, aided by her deep desire to ignore it, and she had been happy to see that Misao hadn't asked her about it either.

The day had gone well. She had made two new friends, had a lot of fun and of course, she had been lucky. After all, if Misao had checked _her_ underwear drawer, she would definitely have found a diary.

Tsukasa would move that tonight.

* * *

I got a big shock today, my computer didn't turn on and i thought the Hardrive was broken. Luckily I managed to get it working again, long enough to back up all my fictions, drafts and ideas (Phew!) but now I'm afraid of turning it off...

I'm gonna have to get a new one I guess, maybe a laptop this time?


	2. H:A:T

Disclaimer: I don't own Lucky Star. If I did, I would find whoever said 'Yep, I'm gonna take this show, for geeks who will only watch it in Japanese, and dub it with voices chosen by a deaf baboon with an extra chromosome.' Then, I would break into their house at night, and smother them with a pillow.

A pillow made of tigers.

And nails.

Cheerful second chapter beginning!

Anyways, I'd like to thank all the people so far for reviewing! Its great when you can wake up at 3pm, throw something at your Computer's on button, and find a load of alerts in your Inbox. On the request of one reviewer I've turned anonymous reviews on, but I suggest signing in if you can (otherwise I can't reply, and I love doing that).

In return for my writing, everyone else must go write something with a fluff content equal to or greater than this fiction.

* * *

Tsukasa stirred in her sleep as someone prodded her midsection.

"Tsukasa, Mom says you have to be up before noon today." Kagami poked at the lump of bed covers again, rolling her eyes as it responded with only a twitch and a muffled groan. Slowly, a head appeared and rose from the blankets, glancing at her before collapsing onto the pillow.

"What time is it?"

"Ten. And you have to get up. You can't sleep like this all through Golden Week. Besides, I'm going in an hour, so I can't wake you up at the usual time."

"Where are you going?"

"Inori's driving me to the furniture store. I'm thinking of getting a new bed, since mines pretty small."

"Oh, mine's fine…"

"Yeah, I know." _'You spend so long in it it'd have to be. Besides, you're like a little kid anyway. Or maybe a Hamster.' _"Anyway, if you're not up in the next ten minutes I'll put ice in your bed again." Kagami left the room, and Tsukasa snuggled her head back under her covers. Quickly forgetting about the threat she was about to drift back into sleep until she heard a muffled 'Waah!' and a thump.

"Oneechan?" She asked, peaking her head back out of the warm bedding..

"I'm okay!" Kagami called back. "I just tripped over something. Someone left junk in the middle of my room."

"What junk?" _'I hope it wasn't me.'_

"It's… someone's handbag." Kagami walked back into her sister's room holding the offending item. "Is this yours?"

"No." She answered honestly. Her sister shrugged before opening it, poking around inside to find a clue to its owner's identity.

"Hey, its full of school notes." Kagami announced frowning. "Wait a minute… I'd recognise this handwriting anywhere."

"How?"

"Because it looks like someone was holding their pen in their mouth when they wrote it! This is Misao's bag!"

"Oh, she must have left it behind."

"Yeah, great. Now I'll have to take it back before Inori takes me out. If she doesn't get it, she'll forget all about the homework until the next study session."

"I could take it…" Tsukasa found herself saying before she even realised.

"No, you'd have to take it back in the next hour or two. Misao has sports practice today." Kagami dismissed her. The idea of Tsukasa going anywhere outside the house before noon on a non-school day was too bizarre to consider, ordinarily she would just find a warm corner of the house to doze in and stay like that until around three or so.

"I don't mind."

"Really? But you never go out so early." _'That's weird, she seems a lot more… alert now.' _Kagami thought to herself. Instead of the dazed sleepy attitude of just a few minutes ago Tsukasa was sitting up straight with her full attention focused. If she hadn't been wearing her bedclothes Kagami could have been fooled into thinking she'd been up for hours.

"Well, I've never been to Misa-Chan's house before. I'd like to see what its like." She said truthfully.

"Oh, well once you've get dressed come downstairs. I'll write down the directions." Kagami walked out of the room, slightly confused and entirely surprised. _'Wow, I guess some things can get her out of bed.'_

The moment Kagami had left Tsukasa leapt from the covers, suddenly anxious to figure out what she would wear. After putting on deodorant and going through her clothes she finally decided on a rarely worn yellow sundress to fit the weather. Ordinarily she had tried to avoid it, since the material was thin and in some ways showed off her figure a lot more than she'd usually be happy about. But Misao's words from earlier had stuck perfectly, and she actually felt confident enough to wear it without feeling self-conscious. Now she just hoped her sisters wouldn't comment too much on her change in attitude.

Quickly scurrying over to her dressing table she applied what little makeup she wore on a day to day basis and began to brush her hair. As soon as she was sure she looked presentable, the youngest Hiiragi made her way downstairs, walking into the kitchen where Kagami was scribbling down directions between taking bites of some toast and glancing at a newspaper.

"Wow, you're really up." Kagami said as her sister walked into the room. "I'm just writing down the directions, help yourself to breakfast."

"Thanks." Tsukasa took a piece and bit into it, happy nothing had been said about the way she looked. Unfortunately for her, Matsuri was far more observant.

"Oh, is Tsukasa up already?" The second eldest sister walked into the room amazed, trying to remember the last time she had seen her sister in the morning. "Hey, when did you get that dress?"

"Yeah," Kagami began as she took a second glance at her sister, . "I don't remember it."

"Oh, um… I've had it for ages. I just don't usually wear it." Tsukasa managed to get out, cursing the fact she had three sisters to defend from instead of just one.

"It's really cute. What's the occasion?" Matsuri asked, a small smile breaking on her face. Dress plus unusual behaviour?

"Nothing, I'm just giving Oneechan's friend some school notes."

"Is he cute?" Matsuri asked instantly, to Tsukasa's eternal embarrassment. Even Kagami had almost choked on her food, so the shy younger sister to the two was bright red.

"She's a girl!"

"Oh, I didn't think Kagami knew any guys." Matsuri said slightly disappointed for a moment. "Which one is it? The big boobed smart one, the big headed smart one, the midget or the loud hyperactive one that chews everything?"

"Um…" Tsukasa began, unsure how to react.

"The last one." Kagami replied for her, not looking up from her food. "And you left out immature, annoying, hyperactive and her tiny attention span."

"I said hyperactive." Matsuri replied puzzled.

"Yeah, but you've got to say it more than once for emphasis."

Tsukasa could only fade into the background slightly, surprised that Misao and her sister had really been friends so long when all they had to say about each other were bad things. She was still thinking when Matsuri left, and Kagami began to notice her silence.

"You okay?"

"Huh?" Tsukasa jumped, as she realised just how deep in thought she had been. "Yeah, I was just thinking. You and Misa-Chan don't seem to get on well…"

"We do sometimes. It just doesn't seem like it much." Kagami told her, looking up from the article she was reading. "I guess we have our moments."

"Like with Kona-Chan?"

"A bit, except she doesn't come copying homework every second. And Konata doesn't constantly play tricks on me." _'Much'_.

"Tricks?"

"Don't ask…" Kagami told her frowning.

"Okay…" Tsukasa said carefully as she saw her sisters dark distant expression. "So how did you meet her?"

"Well I met Ayano in our first school, and we became friends. Then she told me about Misao, and introduced me, and we just kinda drifted together." Kagami told her idly. "They're pretty much best friends, and Misao doesn't really hang out with anyone else so becoming Ayano's friend meant becoming hers as well." Kagami explained. "It's not like I don't like hanging out with her, she's just annoying a lot."

"She doesn't have other friends?"

"I don't think so." Her sister replied. "I've never seen her with anyone else anyway. I think Ayano told me she had trouble making them when I met her…" Kagami told her, something being dragged up from the depths of her memory. That had been the first day she had met Misao, when she had asked what she was like. Ayano had described the girl as sweet, protective, energetic, pleasant but in need of more company. And whilst several of those properties were certainly there, they were so diluted by so many other less desirable qualities that Kagami had formed an instant love-hate relationship with her that was only kept balance by the careful prodding of her other more peaceful friend.

"But she seemed really friendly…" Tsukasa said sadly.

"She did? How?"

"Well, um…" A light blush formed across her sister's features and Kagami found herself growing ever so slightly suspicious. "I mentioned not a lot of people like me-"

"That's not true!" Kagami interrupted hotly, almost choking on toast for the second time.

"As in dating like me."

"Oh, right." Her sister said awkwardly, not actually disagreeing with the statement.

"Because I'm not as good looking as some people in class." Tsukasa ended her original sentence quietly, her eyes facing the ground in a combination of embarrassment and worry.

"I see, and what she said is why you're wearing a dress that shows yourself off for once?" Kagami asked, catching onto the game.

"Uh-huh." Tsukasa nodded, and her sister smiled. Ayano had sworn to her that Misao could be caring and thoughtful, but until now she had never seen any proof. Apparently it was actually true. _'I'll have to thank her next time I see her, Tsukasa isn't confident enough in herself as it is, and she never really believes me when I compliment her. I wonder what she actually said to her.' _

"Well I guess its nice that you've made a new friend, I hope she's less annoying to you than me." Kagami joked. "Anyway, you should probably go sometimes soon, give you plenty of time to get there."

"Okay. I'll just get my jacket."

"Its on the other chair there." Her sister pointed out. "Here are the directions." She said handing the paper to her. "She actually doesn't live far from Yutaka-Chan's classmate, Tamura-San."

"Oh, we went there before with Kona-Chan didn't we?"

"Yeah, it's the same street, so you shouldn't have _too_ much trouble." Kagami replied even whilst wincing, knowing well what her sister's sense of direction was like. She could only hope her instructions were detailed enough.

Tsukasa said her goodbyes and exited the house, walking down the road with the directions firmly clasped in one hand, Misao's handbag in the other. She felt so bizarre doing anything without her own sister that even something as simple as walking somewhere made her slightly lonely at first. After a while however she grew to enjoy the rare time alone, and her thoughts turned to the person she was visiting.

'_Oneechan said she doesn't have other friends, but she must meet loads of people at her clubs.' _Tsukasa thought to herself_. 'So why doesn't she make friends?' _It really didn't make sense to the confused girl. If Misao was as friendly as she had been to her people would have been lining up to be her friend. Unless every one of them was like her sister and easily irritated by the actions that she saw as cute - but that didn't seem likely at all. Besides, she got the impression that Misao's annoyances were specifically reserved for Kagami.

'_So either she isn't this friendly all the time, or she doesn't try to make more friends?' _Tsukasa thought. _'So maybe she only likes certain people? And is only nice to them?' _A warm feeling filled her as she realised that Misao had chosen to try and befriend her, and she promised herself she would act just as friendly back.

Eventually Tsukasa reached the park and began walking through it, finding the peace and quiet a pleasant break from walking by the noisy road. All too soon however she passed through the calm midway point and started to Misao's house, taking time every once in a while to wipe the sweat from her eyes under the overly warm sun.

In another twenty minutes the youngest of the Hiiragi sisters was standing outside her sister's friend's house, consulting the paper to make absolutely sure she had the address right. Timidly she stepped forwards and pressed the doorbell, hearing the distant ring coming from somewhere inside the house.

"Coming!" She heard a voice call, though she didn't recognize it. The door opened a few minutes later, and Tsukasa found herself looking up at a young woman with a smile on her face. The woman would have looked almost identical to Misao but for the tiny ponytail on the back of her short hair, and eyes coloured a soft green in stark contrast to Misao's bright amber yellow. She was wearing what seemed to be some kind of jogging suit, and Tsukasa guessed she was every bit as athletic as Misao too.

"Oh Good Morning." She greeted her politely.

"Good morning." Tsukasa returned with a small bow. "Um… I came to give your sister some school notes."

"Sister?" She looked confused for a second before a smile broke out. "Oh, you must want Misao. I'm her mother."

A look of shock shot across Tsukasa's face.

"S-Sorry! I didn't think you were- I mean you don't look old eno- I mean, I didn't-" She rushed out, immediately, hoping she hadn't offended her on their first impression.

"That's okay." The unnamed woman interrupted Tsukasa's ramblings firmly. "It's actually a compliment to know I can pass for someone so young. Mineko Kusakabe, pleased to meet you." She reassured her with a small but warm smile.

"Ts-Tsukasa Hiiragi, pleased to meet you too." She replied, her face still burning with embarrassment over her mistake.

"Please, come in." The younger girl followed her inside the house, sighing as she realised that the house was air conditioned.

"Would you like a cold drink?" Mineko asked, knowing full well how warm it was outside.

"Yes please."

"Juice or ice tea?"

"Juice please Kusakabe-San."

"I'm not that old, you don't need to call me so formally." She chuckled.

"Oh thank you um… is Mineko-Chan okay?"

"That's fine dear."

"Here's you're drink," She said, handing the cold glass to Tsukasa, who had to stop herself from putting to her hot forehead. "If you're not in a rush perhaps we could sit in the main room and chat for a bit? I'm interested in getting to know another of my daughter's friends."

"I'm not really a good friend of Misa-Chan's yet, but I'd be happy to." Following Misao's mother into another room, she took a seat on a large comfy looking chair, Mineko sitting across from her.

"Um, its odd. Misao had the same reaction when I called her 'Kusakabe-San'. Like Mother like Daughter I suppose."

"Oh, you think?" Mineko asked her with a curious smile.

"Yeah… I can tell by looking at you that you two must be a lot alike. Except maybe…"

"Maybe what?"

"I-I shouldn't say, it'd be rude."

"Oh… I see. You think I'm calmer? Less jumpy? Quieter? There's a whole list." She giggled mischievously, well aware of some of her daughter's shortcomings.

Tsukasa didn't say anything, but the way her face turned red gave it away.

"Anyway, even without all that there's definitely a resemblance isn't there?" She asked, putting down some juice in front of the girl and taking a sip from her own.

"Yeah, if it wasn't for the eyes and the…"

"Fang?" Mineko supplied, aware that some people were worried about her daughter being sensitive about her teeth.

"Yeah… if not for those I don't think I'd be able to tell you apart."

"Well she got both from her father. They're genetic."

"Really? I always thought the teeth must have been caps."

"Oh no, they've run in his side of the family for years."

"But, they look so sharp…" They were sharp in fact. Her sister had told her of several occasions where Misao had accidentally bitten herself hard enough to bruise or even puncture the skin, when a normal person might not have even felt any pain. That was far too sharp for a normal human tooth.

"Oh yes, Misao had to get them filed down when they got too big, and she asked the dentist to sharpen them a bit whilst he was at it. But apart from that, they're natural. Look." Mineko pointed to a picture atop the table that Tsukasa hadn't noticed. Picking it up she found herself looking at a pleasant looking young man, who seemed to be laughing at something off picture. It was quite obvious it was Misao's father, albeit at a younger age. He too had the tiger-like yellow eyes, though in this case they were far smaller and sharper looking than the feminine features of his daughter. From the side of his mouth jutted a small prick of ivory white that Tsukasa instantly took to be the Kusakabe heritage.

"They were both big idiots keeping them really, the number of times my husband bit himself by accident. Misao's even worse since hers are sharper. Maybe she keeps them to remind herself of him or something, I have no idea."

"Remind?" Tsukasa asked. "Um… if its not too rude, did something happen to him?"

"Oh, I'm sorry dear. I suppose I left you behind in the conversation there a bit. My Husband died a long time ago."

"I-I'm sorry about that." Tsukasa managed to get out, unsure what else to say. "Um… when?"

"Just a little after Misao was born. She doesn't remember anything about him poor girl." Mineko told her, looking at the picture fondly. "But anyway, that's all in the past. I want to hear all about my little girl's new friend. Hardly anyone ever comes over, I was beginning to think she was some kind of social outcast."

"No one comes over?"

"Well, there's that nice Ayano girl. But she's off with her boyfriend a lot these days so she doesn't visit as much as she did. Oh, and one of our neighbours, Tamura-Chan, comes over quite a lot. But she knew her from before she even went to that school. "

"No one else?"

"Um… sometimes people come with Ayano or Hiyori-Chan. Like that cute little pink haired girl, or that pigtailed girl. Are they her friends too?"

"Um… I don't know about Yu-Chan, but my sister is her friend." _'I think…' _

"Oh, your sister is the pigtailed girl? I thought you looked a little similar." The older woman said, almost to herself, before looking back hopefully. "So she's not lonely at all?"

"No, I don't think so. She's always seemed happy with Ayano-Chan mostly."

"Sounds like her. If she has one good friend, more are just distractions. Silly girl." Mineko huffed in frustration at her daughter. "She's possessive like that. Her and Ayano have been best friends so long I'm amazed she even lets anyone else near the girl." _'Wow Ayano-Chan is really lucky. I like Kona-Chan and the others, but I don't have anyone who's really my friend before anyone else…' _"Oh well, thank you for telling me about my Misao. Do you want to go give her those notes? You might have to wake her first, she's so lazy she'll be asleep at this time of day."

"That's okay, I don't mind." Tsukasa answered as she stood up. "Thank you very much for the drink."

"No problem. Misao's room is upstairs, last one on the right."

* * *

Tsukasa opened the door as gently as she was able to, moving through and closing it behind her quickly, not wanting to wake and daze the other girl with bright lights.

Misao's room was dark and gloomy with the curtains drawn, only the slightest bit of light making it through the gaps in the curtains and illuminating a few basic shapes in the darkness, giving the room the twilight appearance of dawn. There was a desk and a bookshelf, but even in the dark she could see both were covered with random items and even clothes. The floor fared no better, even at her feet she could see the outfit Misao had worn only yesterday, clumped together by the door like she had taken it off all at once as soon as she had gotten in. _'Maybe she's one of those people who likes to be naked when they can be?' _Tsukasa wondered, and instantly regretted doing so as her imagination was more than happy to provide embarrassing but intriguing guesses at what Misao looked like without her clothes.

Shaking the thoughts from her head Tsukasa walked across the room to the single bed that held the form of Misao. Leaning over the sleeping figure she found herself captivated but bashful at the scene before her.

The fanged girl was splayed across the bed, tanned flesh only partly covered by the blankets, limbs stretched around herself like a contented cat bathing in the sun. On her face was a small smile and Tsukasa found herself wondering if she was dreaming about anything specific, or whether this was simply how she looked when she slept - relaxed and happy. Moving closer the smaller girl found herself enthralled in watching her, taking in every detail in the carefree tanned face.

Suddenly she frowned as she noticed something, a mark on Misao's skin, just above her eyebrow. Ordinarily her fringe was brushed down to cover it but now that hair was out of the way and Tsukasa found herself looking at what seemed to be a faded but fairly long scar, stretching about an inch and a half across her skin.

"Where did she get that?" Tsukasa wondered aloud, before hushing herself when she saw Misao on the bed. For some reason she really didn't want to wake her. As long as things were kept like this she didn't need to explain her strange behaviour or feelings to anyone, nor did she need to even think too deeply on it herself. She could simply watch her and bask in her presence.

Slowly, almost as if she was stirring from her rest, Misao opened her mouth and moved slightly. Tsukasa held her breath, wandering what she would say in her sleep addled state.

"Ayano-Chan~" The sleeping girl finally called out quietly, before turning in her bed and falling back to a deeper sleep. With those words Tsukasa felt a pang of jealousy. Once again she was reminded of the fact she had no one who was so dedicated to her. But there was something else also, a depth to the feeling she couldn't quite figure out. Tsukasa felt for all the world like she had just found out her best friend liked someone else more, even though she knew that was ridiculous. She hadn't ever even had a real conversation with her before yesterday, there was no way she should feel that close to her.

Slowly, the confused girl put out one hand and stroked it along Misao's cheek, unsure why she was doing it. The girl moved below her, only slightly, and her hypnotism was broken. _'What am I doing??' _She thought to herself, genuinely unsure. Shaking her head free of the confusing thoughts Tsukasa backed away from Misao's sleeping form and tried to decide what to do next. In a way she wanted to carry on doing what she had been doing, but another part of knew that there was a definite wrongness to how she was acting.

"Tsukasa?" She jumped at the mention of her name, and turned back to the bed to find Misao sitting up and stretching her arms above her, the covers clinging to her chest against probability in a desperate effort to protect the decency of the world. "What are you doing in my room?"

"You left some notes behind yesterday. Oneechan couldn't come to bring them…" Tsukasa said, holding the girl's handbag in front of her by way of explanation.

"Oh, sorry about that."

"That's okay, I don't mind." Tsukasa replied bashfully.

"Thanks for going to the trouble though."

"It wasn't any trouble, I wanted to come anyway."

"Really?" Misao asked, frowning in confusion. "Why?"

"I was interested in seeing what you're house was like." Tsukasa repeated what she had told her sisters that morning.

"Does it fit?" Misao smiled as she gestured to the mess around her.

"Kinda…"

Tsukasa felt herself heat up as Misao began to rise from the bed, swinging two tanned legs from the side and giving a glimpse of bare thigh which erased all doubt in the smaller girl's mind that the other girl had been sleeping naked. Out of sheer embarrassment Tsukasa turned around before she could see anything else and began to stare intensely at the wall instead, an uncomfortable prickling on the back of her neck telling her Misao was watching her reaction with interest.

"Am I really that bad to look at that you have to turn around like that?" The exposed girl joked behind her even whilst she was looking around for something that could be suitable to wear.

"N-No!" Tsukasa tensed as she felt breath hit her ear, and knew full well that Misao was standing just behind her, probably not even thinking hard about her nudity. Only sheer willpower kept her eyes fixed on the wall in front of her, and she didn't dare move them. "That's not it at all!" She continued. "I think you're-" She stopped, realising she had said too much.

"Think I'm what Imouto?" Misao asked, using her pet name for her.

"I think you're beautiful!" The smaller girl forced out, closing her eyes tightly.

"Wh-What?" Misao stared at Tsukasa, completely unprepared for the sudden compliment. _She_, the girl wearing the enchanting yellow dress, with the kind face and breathtaking eyes, was calling _her _beautiful? "Do you really think so?"

"O-Of course." Tsukasa answered honestly, aware that she was saying things that until now had existed only in her subconscious. "You're athletic and tanned and you look perfect…" Tsukasa mumbled. Misao didn't say anything else, instead choosing to put her hand around Tsukasa's shoulder and hugging the smaller girl to her from behind.

"Thanks Imouto, I don't… really get told that sort of thing often." She said awkwardly, even as she hugged her.

"N-No problem. It's just the truth, and you did the same for me yesterday…" Tsukasa found every muscle in her body tense, as she felt the other girl's bare body pressing at her through a very thin shirt. But at the same time, she felt a warm feeling inside her, happy that Misao genuinely appreciated her compliment.

"Um… could you pass me the shorts by your foot?" Misao's voice was suddenly more quiet and subdued, and Tsukasa realised she had actually embarrassed her. Misao, the girl who was fine with being naked with someone she hardly even, was embarrassed by a simple compliment. Looking down Tsukasa found herself looking at the slightly creased but clean item of clothing, and turned around with it outstretched in her hand, her eyes tightly closed out of respect for the other girl's privacy, even if she herself didn't particularly seem to need it. It was taken from her hands and she took the short ruffling sound to be Misao putting it on.

"Okay, you can open your eyes now if you want." Tsukasa did so, and felt her heart leap up to her throat. Misao was standing at her wardrobe with her back to her, busy picking out a shirt to wear. She hadn't yet bothered with a bra, and as such Tsukasa found herself looking at nothing but bare skin and the smooth contours of a tanned back. If she turned around now, the only part of her skin unexposed would be the part the shorts covered.

The smaller of the two girls immediately felt her face burn yet again, turning her head down and fidgeting with her fingers, casting ever so lengthening glances at the girl in front of her. After a few moments more Misao picked out a clean white tank top and pulled it over herself, and Tsukasa noticed she still hadn't put any bra on. Then again, she herself often went without when she wore certain things, since she often didn't need one. Her own assets weren't anywhere near as developed as her sister's were, she was barely any larger than Konata if she was painfully honest with herself.

"You want anything to drink Imouto?" Misao asked as she drew the curtains, wincing slightly as the sudden light hurt her nocturnal eyes.

"No thank you, Your mom just gave me something."

"Oh, ok. Sorry, I'll be back in a second. Just gotta brush my teeth. Got that bad morning taste in my mouth."

Tsukasa nodded and smiled, knowing the feeling. Misao left the room, her feet padding on the floor outside and fading down the hallway. A few seconds later the sound of an electric toothbrush started up, and Tsukasa found herself looking around the room for things of interest. Whilst at first it had seemed messy it wasn't really as bad as she had thought, at least it was fairly clean and uncluttered but for the occasional item thrown about. The only thing that made it untidy were the clothes, that were scattered around like someone had thrown them at random. Apparently Misao didn't care much for her clothing once it was inside her room, or she just didn't see the point in putting it in the wash after she had worn it.

She kind of wished she had noticed her own dress though. The whole point had been to impress her hadn't it?

Eventually, Tsukasa grew tired of standing and sat down on the closest seat she could find, a computer chair near Misao's desk. Almost immediately however she began shifting around uncomfortably, aware she was sitting on something. Lifting herself up slightly she felt around beneath her and picked it out before sitting back down again, holding it between her hands to see what it was.

It looked like a scrunched up piece of white cotton, to the point where Tsukasa's first reaction was to label it was a handkerchief. Then, as she lifted it closer it fell open, and she found herself looking at a big pink heart, printed ever so tastefully on the front of Misao's underwear.

"So… what are you doing playing around with my panties?" A voice whispered by her ear, suggestiveness turned to max. Misao had taken advantage of her bare feet and natural stealth to sneak into the room without her guest even noticing, and hadn't revealed herself until she was standing right behind her.

"NYAAH!!" Tsukasa dropped the panties like they burnt her hand, and span to face the voice, her eyes wide with shock and the shame of being caught even touching someone else's private things, even if they had been draped over her chair.

"Wow, aren't you a bold one?" Misao joked. "I didn't expect to come back here and find you'd been going through my underwear! What kind of person does that?" _'Apart from me of course.' _"Such a little _perve_!"

"I-I-I…" Tsukasa attempted to make a sentence in the face of the cruel accusations, but failed miserably. Misao only realised she had gone too far with her joke when tears appeared in the corners of the smaller girl's eyes, and suddenly guilt hit her like a half-brick to the stomach. If there was a list of things in the world that no Human should have to see, a crying Tsukasa was certainly near the top.

"D-Don't worry, Imouto. I was only joking!"

"Really?" Tsukasa sniffed and wiped her tears on her wrist.

"Of course I was! I know you're not a pervert, you don't need to get so worked up about things." That brought more tears, and Misao realised using a voice like that would only make it seem like she was angry. _'Wow, she's delicate. I guess I'm too used to screwing around with Hiiragi…' _These kind of jokes were definitely the kind of things she had to restrict to Kagami, her sister was a completely different person.

"Its just, its just I found them! On the chair…" She sniffed halfway through her rushed attempt at an explanation. "A-And I picked them up. I didn't know they we-"

"Don't worry. I know, I know. And I'm sorry I said that." Misao interrupted with her cooing reassurances. "Just stop crying and come here, you really didn't do anything wrong." She tried to emphasize, as she put her arm around Tsukasa yet again, and this time the small girl responded warmly if slightly hesitantly, no longer worrying about touching Misao since she was now fully clothed.

"Your not gonna tickle me again are you?" Tsukasa joked even whilst tears still filled her eyes.

"Of course not." Misao assured her.

What occurred next would be remembered by Tsukasa as one of the most relaxing moments of her life, as Misao sat down on the bed with her back against the wall and led Tsukasa along with her, meeting little to know resistance as she pulled the girl into an embrace.

Several minutes passed, and what had started as something designed only to comfort the smaller of the two gradually just became two people just enjoying each other's company. Neither of them really said anything, Misao concentrated on sitting back and running her hands through Tsukasa's hair, and Tsukasa concentrated on leaning her head against Misao's chest and listening to the beat of her heart.

But whilst the only thought in Misao's head was how sweet she thought the small girl who lay on her was, Tsukasa's mind was full of questions. Why did she act so strange around Misao? Why did she want to spend time around her so much? Why was her presence so calming? Why was she lying on her chest and listening to her breath without feeling awkward? Something she had only ever done with her sisters, and even then not since she had slipped down the stairs at their shrine and sprained her ankle last year.

The most important question to her was simple however. _'What does Misa-Chan think of me?'_

Was this some sort of sudden close friendship? Was Misao simply doing this because she felt she needed comforting, and this was the way to do it? Was it, Tsukasa thought without any idea of the opinion she was meant to take, something more than friendship? The way they were now was almost motherly, she thought to herself as she felt fingers stroke delicately down through her hair and onto her cheek. But there was something underneath that definitely went even further than any sort of maternal instinct Misao could be having, didn't it?

"Feel better again?"

"Yeah… I guess you're good at cheering people up." Tsukasa answered, not lifting her head.

"Thanks, guess I've had practice over the years."

"Should I get up now?" She asked hesitantly.

"Do you want to?"

"No." Tsukasa admitted.

"Then that's your answer."

"Sorry for causing you so much trouble…" Tsukasa apologized solemnly even as she rested her head in the crook of Misao's neck.

"What trouble?" Misao asked in disbelief. "I was the one who was stupid enough to make you cry. Besides, you're so cute, I'm glad I get an excuse to hug you."

Tsukasa's face grew warm and her stomach filled with butterflies at the knowledge that Misao genuinely enjoyed comforting her.

"Misao!!" They were broken from their little world when Misao's mom called from the bottom of the stairs. "Get ready soon okay? You have to be at your club in the next twenty minutes!"

"'Kay!" Misao answered loudly, before turning to the girl beneath her and talking in an altogether more quiet and comforting voice, though unable to conceal her regret. "Sorry Imouto, guess I have to go after all…"

"Okay…" Tsukasa pushed herself up from Misao's side, and immediately missed the steady heartbeat and warmth that the fanged girl had provided. "I should get back too. My sisters will get worried otherwise." Tsukasa said awkwardly. It was so strange to go from such an intimate position back to just being vague acquaintances, the change between the two was jarring.

"Do you want a lift?"

"No, its okay. I can walk. Have a nice time at your club." Tsukasa said distantly.

"I will, enjoy the rest of Golden week okay?" Misao smiled at her, but the smile was fake. In truth she was just as sad to see their embrace end, and once again found herself cursing the fact she did so much sport.

"Thank you, I will." Tsukasa was just about to exit the room when Misao stopped her.

"Hey, I'm going shopping downtown tomorrow… you wouldn't want to come with me would you? Just the two of us…" She offered.

"I'd love to!" Tsukasa answered, life pouring back into her voice as she realised she could see Misao again so soon.

"Great, I'll phone tonight with the details." Misao's voice did the same, and her smile became genuine again.

"I can't wait." Tsukasa told her truthfully, smiling.

"Just make sure you wear something as cute as this dress again." Misao smiled back, and got a small blush for her compliment. "You look really good in it."

"Thanks," Quick as she could Tsukasa leant forwards and hugged Misao tightly, if only for a few seconds. "See you tomorrow!"

The next moment she was gone, and Misao was left in her room alone, wondering just where all this could possibly lead.

Tsukasa practically skipped home.

'_She liked my dress!!' _She thought ecstatically, her day made by the single comment.

* * *

Does anyone else imagine Misao as bit of a nudist? I guess it's the animalistic comparisons or something…

Anyways, had to basically make up Misao's Mom, cause she's never mentioned in the Anime and I don't think she's ever done in the manga (not that I can track the damn thing down). I tried to make her a calmer more sensible version of Misao, personally I think of her as looking something like a slightly more aged version of Matsuri crossed with Misao.

Next chapter next week!


	3. R:Y:E

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Lucky Star, it all belongs to its original creators.

Okay, now for the Author Notes:

First off, I'd like to thank everyone for your reviews (I'm now on over 20! Hooray!). Weirdly though, i keep getting favourites and story alerts from people who haven't reviewed. I'm not really doing this fiction for the reviews (if i was I'd do a load of short chapters instead of a handful of long ones), but favouriting something when you haven't even taken the time to say "This was cool" seems a bit... you know.

Actually, that reminds me. Several things came up in the reviews & PMs a few times, so i figured id comment on them here.

First off, a lot of people have been saying my fiction is better than Rezle's, to which i express my astonishment and frankly, disbelief. I haven't yet done anything but fluff, and whilst i'll agree my writing style is better than most of what was seen in Lucky Summer, thats only because RV limited himself so he could get everything out that century (this work was started in October 2008). When it comes to real drama i'm afraid i have no experience, so i can only hope i do well in that in this things sequel (yes, it will have one at some point. Five chapters ain't enough for a full love story!)

Next, the Dad thing. There was a reason i chose to kill him off, apart from wanting to make sure there were as few OCs as possible. First off, Konata has no Mother, and since Misao is her ignored counterpart i figured it made sense her dad should have died. They both don't care because it happened so long ago, so angst is not brought into the equation. Mainly it was done to draw a parallel between those two characters.

Actually, about the angst, i have a love-hate relationship to the stuff - which is kinda an irony if you think about it. As I've said to someone else, i hate stories that go on like "Oh, i don't know if i like this person or not, *cry*." That is not good story writing, and its 99% of Konami fictions on this site. Equally those that go on about people worrying if they're a lesbian or not also pisses me off. I'm bisexual and I didn't do that (or more accurately, i did it for the grand total of around four seconds then calmed down again and went back to sleep), so i don't plan to put into my stories. This story is Misao and Tsukasa's falling in love, and such deserves (like real love often is at the beginning) to get off with existing in a candy land of happiness.

However, there is an angst i like. That angst is the angst that happens when your family finds you making out with another girl in your room, and suddenly stops talking to you like they used to. But we'll be talking about that next story i guess.

Now, on with the story. Please enjoy.

* * *

Tsukasa allowed the Mall's escalator to bring her up another floor, looking around for their meeting place, the food court, though it didn't seem like Misao was there yet. She had worn another sundress, the only other one she owned, but instead of yellow it was a light sky blue colour. She had also taken a gamble with the weather by not bringing any sort of jacket, hoping it would stay as pleasant as it had been through the past few days. Apart from that the only things she had was her handbag and her purse.

'_I wonder what Misa-Chan will be wearing…' _Tsukasa wondered. At home it was obvious she wasn't a fan of clothing, even when she put it on she had been wearing only the simplest of things without any socks or shoes. But would she dress up for their day out?

Lost in her thoughts Tsukasa began idling browsing the selection outside a bookshop, failing to notice the shape creeping up on her from behind.

"Boo." The moment the voice blew on her ear Tsukasa yelped and leapt forward, eyes wide with surprise.

"Misa-Chan!! Don't sneak up on me like that!" She reprimanded as she turned to greet the girl, though not very seriously. Misao stood there grinning, pleased with herself for earning such a good response.

"Sorry Imouto, but you're reactions are too cute for me not to." She replied, to Tsukasa's embarrassment. "Another great dress too I see."

"Thanks." Tsukasa looked her up and down and smiled at what she saw. "Your outfit is nice too." On her lower body Misao had chosen to wear short beige jeans and sandals, which showed off part of her leg and uncharacteristically painted toenails. For her upper body she had chosen to wear a loose flowing green shirt and a white hooded zip-up sweatshirt, though since the sleeves were tied around her waist and the entire shirt was hanging around her hips, it was really more of a belt at the moment.

"Thanks. I tried that whole dresses thing ages ago, but I don't think I really suit it. You seem to pull it off easily though."

"Maybe if you grew you're hair a little longer it would work better?"

"Yeah, I thought so too. But it gets in the way so much, I don't know how Hiiragi-Chan manages it."

"Yeah it does," She agreed. "Oneechan got it trapped in a door just the other week."

"Really?" Misao giggled. "That's not really what I had in mind, but I guess that's a good reason not to grow it. Must have hurt."

"No, she was lucky and realised before she pulled on it."

"Very lucky." Misao agreed. "Anyway, where do you want to go first? I've just got to go to one shop at four, so that gives us two and a half hours to kill."

"Um… what's the shop you have to go to?"

"This dressmaking shop about ten minutes away from here. I'm having something made for Ayano, and I have to pick it up today. I figured I'd make a day of it." Upon hearing that Tsukasa tried to remember if she had ever seen any dress making shops anywhere near here, wondering if she or one of her sisters had ever bought anything from them. There were two she knew of, one normal one and one more expensive one, but she was fairly certain the former had shut down not too long ago due to lack of customers.

"Is it her birthday or something?"

"No, that's not for months."

"So, why are you having a dress made for her?" Wasn't that expensive no matter what the shop? Misao didn't really seem like the type of person who would hang onto money for long, not that she was much better.

"Oh, its just this tradition type thing we have." Misao told her awkwardly, as Tsukasa got the overwhelming sense it wasn't really something she wanted to talk about.

"Tradition?" Curiosity slightly outweighed her guilt at forcing a conversation.

"Yeah, we kinda get each other gifts every year on this certain date, its in a few weeks."

"Why?" Again she felt guilty at forcing her to talk when she didn't want to, but she still wanted to know.

"No reason." Even to Tsukasa, her lie was obvious.

"Um… okay." _'That's weird…' _Tsukasa thought to herself. Misao's intentions were usually as clear as a big transparent window made of air, but here she was obviously hiding something. "Can we go in here for the first shop? When she heard I was going anyway Kona-Chan asked me to buy her this game from it." Tsukasa pointed her hand over the nearest crowd where a store was busy lighting up television screens and showing off their latest merchandise.

"The midget asking someone else to buy a game instead of her? That's unexpected." Misao commented as they walked into the store. "Any reason? Or is she just lazy?"

"No, its just…" Tsukasa hesitated for a second, trying to phrase herself correctly. "They don't let her in here anymore, I'm not sure why."

"I see…" Misao said, raising an eyebrow. "So what's the game?"

"Um… I have it written down here somewhere." She rummaged around in her handbag and brought out a piece of paper. "Its called… 'Run Run! Otome Rush!' and it's a dating sim."

"Okay." Misao said as she took a quick glance through the titles and found the right one. "Oh…"

"What is it?"

"Good news, I think I've figured out why they don't let her in here anymore."

"Why?"

"'Cause they'd be put out of business if they were seen selling this type of game to someone who looks that young." Misao picked up the game and turned the case around so Tsukasa could see the summary.

"Oh my…" Tsukasa's face took on a familiar red glow.

"She was really gonna try and get you to buy this?" Misao asked, smirking.

"Yeah… she's sleeping over tonight, so she said she'd pay me back then." Tsukasa replied, her eyes not leaving the back of the box. The only thing more embarrassing than the images was the text that went along with it, advertising features and options that had to be pushing the boundary of what could be put on a public display.

"Ya know…" Misao began in a curious voice, taking another look at the box. "Doesn't it seem weird she's playing a game aimed at guys?"

"Yeah, it happens a lot. We… well we don't really question it anymore." Tsukasa answered, her knees weak with dread at the thought of actually standing up in front of the cashier and buying this thing.

"Really? 'Cause I'm curious as hell now and I've only known about this for a few seconds."

"What am I supposed to do??"

"What do yah mean?"

"I can't buy… this!" She could only gesture at the offending item.

"Then don't." Misao answered simply.

"But I said I would! Kona-Chan said she's been looking forward to this game for weeks!"

"Then get it."

"But I can't!!"

"Why not?"

"Well, what if the cashier thinks its mine??" Tsukasa squeaked.

"Yeah, so what if he does? Loads of people probably buy these types of games. Look, this ones on their best selling of the week list." She pointed out on the chart on the wall. "So buy it."

Tsukasa just looked at her helplessly, and Misao rolled her eyes and sighed melodramatically. .

"Do you want me to buy it instead?" Tsukasa's head was a blur of nods, and the money was all but forced into her hand. Misao laughed at her shy behaviour and made her way to the cashier, glancing back every so often to see the embarrassed girl standing awkwardly by the dating sims.

Meanwhile Tsukasa was staring in wonder as Misao strolled up to the counter and put the game down on it, confidence never wavering for a second despite what she was buying. The cashier paid her no heed as he took her money, and if he even noticed exactly what she was buying then he didn't let any reaction show.

When she came back Tsukasa simply looked at her with a strange mix of guilt and admiration.

"Sorry about that…" She said solemnly as they walked out the store.

"About what?"

"Making you buy that for me."

"I don't mind."

"But what would you have done if someone from school saw you?"

"Isn't that obvious?" Misao asked. "I'd tell em its for Hiiragi-Chan." She chuckled to herself and grinned, already imagining the situation.

"You mean Oneechan?" Tsukasa gasped as Misao nodded. "And they'd believe you??"

"Of course they would. People'll believe almost anything as long as you look and sound sure when you say or do it. For example, I'm only seventeen but that cashier didn't check my I.D." Misao pointed out.

"He didn't??"

"Nope. But if you'd have done it he would have asked and you would have been kicked out."

"Why didn't you remind me??" Tsukasa had been so wrapped up in her embarrassment over buying the game she had forgotten that she was only seventeen too, instead of the eighteen required to buy it.

"Because I wanted to see if you'd go up there and remember at the last second, I wasn't gonna actually let you buy it though."

"Oh…" She wasn't sure whether or not to be angry about that. On the one hand Misao's carefree joking attitude was one of the many things she liked about the girl. On the other it was hard to completely trust someone who treated the whole of life like a very interesting game, and its people like the pieces (even if most of the time there was only one piece on the opponent's side, and that piece was called Kagami). Especially when she set about her work in ways that were surprisingly devious for someone who looked so completely harmless. 'Looked' being the operative word, since Tsukasa was fairly sure Misao could probably talk her way out of a murder if she tried.

"Hey, have you eaten yet?" Misao asked suddenly.

"Nope. I came here straight after waking up."

"Me neither, want to grab a late lunch?" Tsukasa nodded, noting happily that Misao hadn't poked fun at her sleeping habits.

"Where do you want to go?"

"Um… McDonalds?"

A few minutes later they were sitting and eating in the crowded food court, both having simple burgers, fries and cokes. Tsukasa sipped her drink thirstily, having only had a single glass of water since she had gotten up. Originally she had planned to have a diet even though she didn't really like them, but Misao had made her get a normal one to show her exactly what she thought of diets.

"I shouldn't really have this… I'll gain weight."

"Good, I had you lying on me yesterday, you hardly weigh anything." Tsukasa's ears burned as she tried to determine if anyone had heard that sentence, and taken it in the wrong way. Luckily no one seemed to. "Besides, you don't seem to have any problems fitting into those cute little sundresses of yours."

"This is my only other one like this actually."

"Aw… really? Shame. They look really good on you." Misao finished her burger and waited patiently for Tsukasa to do the same, smiling as she saw a large line of sauce had been smeared across her cheek.

"Thank you." Tsukasa had to look away from Misao's wide honest eyes and look at her food instead, the crimson blush across her cheeks still showing she had problems taking compliments. "Maybe I can buy some more whilst I'm here, I quite like them too." She admitted. The sundresses she had started wearing were truly comfortable and suited her image perfectly, to the point where she'd probably start wearing them even when Misao wasn't around, but all that was nothing compared to their true value. Getting the other girl's attention, since they seemed to show off her figure so well.

"You don't have to do that just for me. I'm sure you look great no matter what you wear." Misao told her, before taking another sip from her coke. Neither of them caught the assumption in the sentence, not even the girl who had said it. The assumption that Tsukasa wanted to look good purely for Misao's sake.

"I want to get some more clothes anyway, I'm growing out of a lot of my old stuff." Tsukasa told her, finishing. "And a lot of my newer stuff I got from my sisters anyway. Its nice to have some clothes I can call mine every once in a while."

"Oh yeah, you've got three sisters don't you?" Misao asked idly as she picked up the wrappers and empty drinks and put them in the trash a few tables behind them.

"Yeah, you don't have any?" She asked tentatively.

"Nah. Its just me and my mom, my Dad died when I was little." To Tsukasa it actually made her feel a little ill, that someone's voice could be so calm and cheerful whilst discussing something like that.

"Yeah... your mom told me. D-Do you remember him at all?" She asked tentatively.

"Nope. Too young." The brown haired girl replied nonchalantly, glancing at Tsukasa.

"I can't imagine life without my dad…" She said quietly.

"Yeah, I heard he's the one who pays your cell phone bill. Poor guy." Misao grinned.

"Don't joke like that! Its not a laughing matter..."

"Hey, I'm the one with the single parent. I can joke whenever I like." Misao stuck her tongue out a her, looking for all the world like a kid taunting someone. "So there Imouto."

Despite herself Tsukasa had to giggle at her childish behaviour.

"There, happy again." Misao sighed melodramatically again. "I don't know, you're so much work."

"I'm not the one who acts so childish." Tsukasa replied, sticking her own tongue out in a rare feat of mischief.

"Yeah, yeah. Real mature."

"You did it!"

"Did not."

"Did too."

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

The two girls broke down into amused giggles, only stopping when they got glances from other tables around them.

"Come on Tsukasa, I'm sure we can find a shop that sells good clothes somewhere nearby. I need a few new things too."

Tsukasa nodded and got up herself before Misao stopped her.

"Hang on a sec." Tsukasa recoiled slightly as she lifted a napkin and began to wipe hard on her face.

"M-Misa-Chan!" She asked, freezing where she stood. "What are you doing??"

"You've still got some sauce on here." She offered by way of explanation.

"I could have done it myself…"

"Yeah, but you look so cute when I treat you like a little kid." Misao smirked at her. "Come on, lets go."

The two of them wandered into the first clothes store that caught their eyes, one that happened to be a lot bigger than most parking lots and about as well packed. The entire place was coloured a migraine inducing pink hue, but apparently whoever had decided on the decoration had either been sick or fired - or killed by any number of self-respecting interior designers - before they had picked the actual merchandise.

"Wow, this place has some really good stuff doesn't it?" Misao asked, thumbing through some of the things on the rack.

"Yeah, its kinda overwhelming. We've been looking for a while and I can't really decide what I should get."

"Yeah, me neither." Misao agreed. "Wait, I have a idea!"

"What?" Tsukasa asked, somewhat wary of any idea that had come from Misao.

"Well, when Ayano and I can't decide, we just pick out stuff we think would look good on the other person. That's how I got this shirt actually."

"Oh yeah, Oneechan and I do that all the time! Lets do that!"

"So we'll each find some stuff we think would look good on each other, and we'll meet in the fitting rooms in the back once we've found some good stuff., 'kay?"

"Okay." Tsukasa said cheerfully, looking forward to seeing what Misao would find for her. "How much should we get?"

"Umm… just don't worry about it I guess, we can probably sort it out when we get there."

With that the two parted, though not for long. Despite one being a tomboy and the other getting the majority of her clothes from her sisters, they both had a fairly good sense for fashion, especially since they each knew people who were similar and could judge clothes off of them. For Tsukasa it was easy enough to take what Konata might wear and adjust that for the more mature looking Misao, for Misao it was simple to imagine what Ayano might wear and adjust the colour scheme a bit, as well as take into account Tsukasa's different hair style and less curvy figure.

* * *

"Misa-Chan, you shouldn't have bought so much, you can't have possibly have this much money." Tsukasa said as they exited the store, each hand with a large heavy bag on it, filled with the things she had eventually decided to buy.

"Nah, I've got loads. I got a prize for getting third in a Judo tournament not too long ago, and winning a Soccer game with my team."

"But you bought me things too…" _'Wow, she does Judo and Soccer? But doesn't she do track and field too? I feel really bad for letting her spend that reward money on me.'_

"Well of course. The new underwear was my idea, so I wouldn't have made you pay for them. Think of it like a gift." Misao said, smiling at her.

"Thank you." Tsukasa blushed and looked away, remembering how the other girl had stared at the brassiers she had been buying in confusion and then insisted on buying her another style.

"Don't mention it Imouto." Misao responded with a happy grin. _'Still not sure whether or not I should tell her a good bra is supposed to make your chest look bigger though, she looked so surprised when I told her those ones would.' _She thought to herself_. 'Ah well, she'll figure it out.'_

"Where to next?" The fanged gir said out loud.

"Well, there was this new CD I wanted, but I'm not sure I'll have enough for more shopping and the train back if I buy it." Tsukasa replied.

"Don't worry, I can pay for a train ride if you don't have enough by the end." Misao told her idly, already spotting a shop that looked like it sold music.

"Thanks…"

"I said before, don't mention it." Misao told her as they walked into the right shop.

For the next hour or so the two wandered around the dozens of shops enjoying themselves, going into all the shops that interested either of them, even when they were places they didn't usually visit. Tsukasa was surprised to find herself going into sports shops, another game store and even a dark low key store that sold… questionable Doujinshi ("My neighbour draws this stuff, but she never lets me see it. I've actually had to track some down to this place." - was the explanation, but it was still a surprise). Misao on the other hand was (pleasantly) surprised that she was taken into several bakeries and cake shops - many of which gave free samples - and a bookstore looking for the next volume of a manga Tsukasa liked.

"Wow, my legs are tired." Tsukasa groaned as they sat down on a bench, setting down her bags next to her. "And these are heavy."

"Yeah, and I've still gotta go get that dress soon." Misao said as she slumped down next to her.

"Where is it from here?"

"Um… just around that street I think."

"I cant get up right now." Tsukasa told her, exhausted. "I think I'm gonna fall asleep."

"Sorry, I guess we should have came later, then we wouldn't have to waste so much time."

"No, I've really enjoyed myself!" Tsukasa told her honestly. "I'm just a little tired."

"Well, if you want I could go get it by myself and you can stay here. But don't fall asleep, someone'll steal our stuff if you do."

"Um… okay. I promise."

"I'll be back in a few minutes, see you in a bit." Tsukasa watched as Misao set her bags down by the bench and walked away. It took barely less than thirty seconds for the small, tired girl to succumb to her heavy eyelids.

* * *

"Just five more minutes Oneechan…" Tsukasa crooned, trying to find her comfortable position again.

"C'mon Imouto, wake up." Misao said as she shook the girl. Luckily, nothing seemed to have been stolen, but if Tsukasa slept there long she'd wreck her back. She tried shaking her again and this time the tired girl unbalanced, slumping forwards and mashing her face into Misao's shirt.

"Wow, you're really tired aren't you?" The fanged teenager asked.

The reply was mumbled as Tsukasa tried to talk sleepily through the cloth.

"Huh?"

Tsukasa pulled herself up and rubbed her eyes.

"I'll be fine," She said, still yawning. "Hey, where's the dress?" The girl asked, seeing Misao was empty handed.

"There was some sort of accident today and they ruined it, they had to make a brand new one." She told her, a rare frown on her normally carefree face marking how annoyed she was.

"When will that be ready for?"

"Not for another two hours." Misao sighed.

"Two hours??" Tsukasa asked, surprised. By that time it would be six

"Yeah, but don't worry. I'll walk you to the train station and pay for you're ticket, you don't need to wait here for that long."

"You're going to wait here for a whole two hours?"

"Yep, I don't really want to leave it here with them. If you don't collect at the right times they throw the thing out anyway." _'Stupid snobs, don't know how they keep in business.'_

"But won't you get bored?"

"Yep." Misao admitted. "But I'll survive I think."

"Um… maybe I could stay with you?" Tsukasa suggested. _'I can't let Misa-Chan wait here alone for that long. By that time it'll start getting dark, and she's done so much for me today…'_

"Imouto, thanks but you're about to fall over, you don't have to stay."

"I want to! I'm not tired anymore." Tsukasa claimed, though neither believed it. "It wouldn't be right to just leave you here. Besides, if we both stay we might be able to have some fun."

"Like what?" Misao asked, cocking her head.

"Um… maybe we could find a movie to watch?"

"Well… There's supposed to be a good one on I wanted to see." The brown haired girl recalled. "But won't your family get worried about you? And do you even really want to go see a movie with me?"

"Of course I do! I haven't been to the movies in ages, going with you is just a bonus." Tsukasa told her warmly. "And they won't mind as long as I tell them I'm going somewhere with you. But, do you have a phone I can use to call them?"

"Nope, don't own one. Don't you?" Misao asked, vaguely remembering various complaints about it a few months back.

"I do... but the battery ran down yesterday so I had to leave it at home on charge."

"Oh, well there's always payphones outside theatres, we can just use one of those." She pointed out. "Come on, I know where there's one near here."

"Okay." Tsukasa practically skipped after the taller girl, ecstatic with the chance to spend more time with her and pleased with herself for making Misao's day better

"So, what's the movie about Misa-Chan?" She asked when she had caught up, wincing slightly as the ache in her legs returned even after such a small activity.

"Not completely sure, Hiyori-Chan just told me it was really good, and we usually have the same taste in that sort of thing." Scratching the back of her head as she tried to remember precisely where the theatre was past the current street.

"Oh, I didn't know you were that close…" Tsukasa said, trying to remember if she'd ever seen the two together.

"I guess we aren't as much as we used to…" Misao thought aloud, her voice not yet showing any sorrow for the statement. "But we used to be sisters like you and Hiiragi, since she only has a brother and I don't have anyone."

"Um…" Tsukasa didn't continue, not sure what she could possibly say in such a situation.

The two of them walked in silence, before the fanged girl broke it.

"I blame the midget." Misao announced decisively.

"K-Kona-Chan? Why?" The smaller girl asked, completely in the dark as to where Konata came in to the picture.

"Tam-Chan calls her Sempai, and they're always talking in Otaku with each other. I never get called Sempai." Misao sulked, crossing her arms across her chest and pulling her face into a pout.

"That's not enough to say its Kona-Chan's fault." Tsukasa stressed. "And it might be a good thing you don't spend all your time together…"

"How?" Misao asked her, narrowing her eyes slightly and frowning, giving Tsukasa the distinct impression she had touched upon a very sensitive topic. The brown haired teenager didn't look like she got upset easily, so for Tsukasa it was a surprise.

"W-Well… if she only used to be with you then maybe spending less time means she's found more friends…" Tsukasa said quietly, trying to avoid Misao's rare angry look even though she knew it wasn't really meant for her.

There was a sigh.

"I guess…" Misao finally said. "But the same thing happened with you're sister." She added as an afterthought, barely raising her voice at all.

Tsukasa didn't say anything, secretly agreeing even though she would never admit it out loud. From what she had seen lately, they were nowhere near the close friends they had been when she had first met them, all those years ago. And the amount of time Kagami spent in her own classroom was far less than the time she spent in theirs with her, Konata and Miyuki. No wonder Misao felt like she was being ignored.

"Um… I could be your friend…" Tsukasa mumbled.

"Huh?" Misao looked at her, confident golden eyes fixing on innocent blue ones. "You say something Imouto?"

"I could be your friend." Tsukasa repeated slightly louder. "I'd like to be anyway, I promise I won't stop paying attention to you…" She said quickly, red highlighting her cheeks as she looked away in embarrassment.

Tsukasa felt a hand snake around her shoulder and pull her inwards, pressing her against Misao's warm side.

"Aw… your so cute Imouto." She heard a voice say, every word truthful as the fanged girl nuzzled her head into her shorter companions hair playfully. "But you're already my friend, that's why I invited you out here." Misao told her, before glancing to the to her right. "Hey, I see the theatre over there."

"Oh, um... should I call home whilst you get the tickets?"

"If you're that sure they'll let you come…"

"Don't worry Misa-Chan, as long as I can get back they won' t mind."

"Okay, meet you inside by the door?" Misao asked as she turned to head in.

Tsukasa nodded and watched as her newest friend wandered inside, fumbling around in her pockets for money. Looking around for a second she easily found the payphones and reached for her own money, putting it in and calling her house phone.

"_Hello, Hiiragi residence. Who's speaking please?" _Inori's calm, polite voice asked through the phone.

"Oneechan?"

"_Tsukasa? Where are you? I thought you were gonna be home by now." _Inori asked, sounding slightly worried.

"I'm still downtown."

"_Oh, so when are you coming back?"_

"I don't know. I'm gonna go see a movie with Misa-Chan."

_"A movie? But its almost five, you won't make it to dinner."_

"That's okay, I had a late lunch." Tsukasa assured her, even though she knew that whilst she was full now, by the time the movie ended and she had gotten home she'd be famished. Hopefully Misao would buy them some popcorn or something.

"_Well okay, but don't blame me if you get lost in the dark on the way home." _Inori warned her. _"I'll tell Mom you won't be back for a while."_

"Thanks Oneechan."

_"Have a nice time." _

With that Tsukasa said her goodbyes and hung up, quickly shuffling into the theatre as she felt the first cold breeze of the night blow under her dress.

"Hey Tsukasa, were they okay with it?"

"I spoke to my sister, she said she'd tell my parents."

"Okay, good enough I guess." Misao shrugged. "I got the tickets, but it looks like the films gonna be pretty long…" She said hesitantly. "I mean, you might not get back home for a while, and I know you're tired."

"That's okay Misa-Chan, I told Oneechan not to expect me for a while."

"But you're already exhausted," Misao continued, her voice hesitant. "and we're not that far from the nearest station…"

"I don't mind." The smaller of the girls walked forwards, and in a show of uncharacteristic confidence, pulled her friend by the arm and further into the building, silencing any arguments she could muster.

'_You never even asked what the movie was about, but you won't let me go alone…' _The fanged girl thought as she was being dragged, though she had no idea whether or not that was something to be happy or just more guilty about.

* * *

Well now, finished again. Hope you enjoyed it. And before anyone says, the major reason i made Hiyori Misao's neighbour was to give her another link to the main cast apart from Tsukasa, and because at some point i want Hiyori to attempt to draw Yuri of them. :D

Anyways, hopefully my next chapter will be up next week. However, i can't be sure. Im currently buying my laptop, so that might screw up writing for a few days, plus my next chapter hasn't been going too well. I've had to delete and rewrite a large amount of stuff from that chapter and the next because it just wasn't up to my standard (about six thousand words in total are gone, though still not as bad as another fiction i did which involved me deleting and rewriting around twenty thousand words, occasionally rewriting chapters four or five times).

Thanks for reading, looking forward to your comments!

P.S. This was proof-read at like 1 Am, so tell me if theres any massive mistakes in it, like paragraphs missing and stuff.


	4. E:S:P

Disclaimer: I own nothing of this fiction. All Characters belong to their original creators.

So I'm finally back. I know, its been a month and a half in the making. I'm kinda feeling guilty, since I don't think this is very different from the other chapters for so long. However, there is only one Chapter left, so you wont need to suffer long update times for long.

I could go on a big list of reasons for it being so long, but I'll just be quick for those who care. Went out of town, had to start from scratch as opposed to start from well done drafts like last three, had lots of other work to do, deleted whole chapter twice due to dislike, bought a new laptop and got hit across the ribs by a car. Also, I was really sleepy, and I do most writing late at night, so yeah.

Now, there are also two fictions I would like to recommend everyone go off and review. The first is called 'Close Friends' by E.S. Simeon. Its one of the few fics on the site with Ayano and Misao in it, so we need to encourage it. The second is an interesting looking Hiyori/Patty fiction by shanejayell called 'Daydream Believer'. Again Hiyori and Patty get too little work on them, so we should encourage them to make more in the hopes others will too.

Anyways, without further delay, please enjoy this chapter of my fiction. If you haven't gotten the chapter titles by now I'll be surprised.

* * *

The film was around an hour in, and in Misao's eyes admittedly it was pretty good, but already she had begun to lose interest. Or more accurately she had found something far more interesting to draw her attention away from the screen. That something was the wholly more appealing show that was taking place beside her.

The orange eyed girl watched out of the corner of her eyes, failing to suppress an amused smile as she watched Tsukasa trying to keep herself awake. The smaller girl sat in her chair, trying to watch the movie even as her head began to nod and her eyes grew heavy. Every few seconds she would shake her head side to side to try and wake herself, but once she had grown comfortable in the seat again the process soon repeated itself. Eventually she lost her fight with her fatigue and slumped slowly to the side, falling fast asleep in the large warm chair.

Once she was sure she was asleep Misao quickly abandoned her pretence of watching the movie and turned her full attention to her friend, not bothering to check if anyone else was watching her. Tsukasa's face was perfectly peaceful under her gaze, a typically innocent expression adorning her features as she dozed.

Misao leaned closer, until their faces were only inches apart, examining every detail with a thoughtful smile on her face. In a way, she really regretted she couldn't get this close with Tsukasa when she was awake. The smaller girl's eyes were definitely her best features, though from what she could see Misao couldn't imagine she had any bad ones. But Tsukasa was far too shy around her to let her get this close without looking away, so she doubted she'd ever get a really good look at them.

Misao moved closer still, this time taking a careful glance around first to be sure no one was paying attention to her. until their noses were practically touching. Slowly she moved forwards even more, hovering just a few millimetres from Tsukasa's soft inviting lips and closing her eyes.

She stopped, and sighed, opening her eyes again.

The petite girl lay sprawled asleep in front of her, completely oblivious as Misao wore her thoughtful expression.

Misao moved away again, and a look approaching melancholia was cast across her features, though her smile didn't completely disappear as she watched her friend sleep. One hand brushed away a stray lock of hair from Tsukasa's otherwise picture perfect look.

"I'd like to Imouto, I really would." She told the sleeping girl earnestly, without anything other than mild exasperation in her voice. "But I've gotta be sure. Otherwise, in the end it'd turn out the same as last time I tried to make the first move, and who really needs that again?" She said as she rolled her eyes. As she expected, she received no answer. Then again, she didn't need one. What had happened last time had been unpleasant enough for all concerned that neither of the two involved would ever truly forget it, even if they could put it out of their minds sometimes and just pretend to be normal friends again. "It'd just turn out as another mess like that, and I don't think either of us are as good at fixing things as she was."

Misao shrugged and went back to watching the movie, or tried at least, since every few seconds she couldn't help but notice the uncomfortable looking position Tsukasa has managed to fall asleep in. Sighing to herself as she did it she pushed the armrest up into the seat and pulled the limp girl towards her, twisting slightly to let Tsukasa's cheek rest on her chest. The petite girl snuggled down into her new position happily, her unconscious form finding it to be a great improvement on slumping over the armrest.

"You're hopeless, you know that Imouto?" Misao told the girl using her breast as a pillow softly, even as she wrapped one hand around her side and held her closer. "No wonder Hiiragi has her hands full all the time."

Misao settled down to enjoy the rest of the movie, feeling better for knowing the warm body across her was comfortable.

* * *

When the credits finally came began to go past, and people began to leave around her, Misao looked down to see that Tsukasa hadn't moved from her spot even once. She still looked peaceful, not to mention exhausted, as she lay there, facing upwards towards the ceiling and allowing Misao to see the peaceful face she had while asleep.

"Tsukasa." She called into her ear whilst shaking her. "Time to wake up now, 'kay?"

"Nnn…" Tsukasa closed her eyes even tighter and turned her head into her 'pillow'.

"C'mon. You can't sleep here all day." Misao said, unhappy but adamant about waking her. She shook her again, to no response. "Fine, didn't want to do this, but you've forced me."She leaned down and with one hand parted the hair that covered Tsukasa's ear, before she began to blow into gently, alternating strength to get the best effect.

For a few seconds the sleeping girl did nothing but fidget in increasing amounts, before her eyes shot open and her entire body jumped upwards as she arched her back .

"YAH!!!" Tsukasa squealed in laughter and shook her head violently, holding her hand firmly over her ear and squirming all over from the bizarre feeling she had been given. People from around the room stared at them as they filed out, but neither of the girls noticed.

"Misa-Chan!!" She reprimanded her friend, who was laughing aloud at the way she had reacted. "That's a horrible way to wake someone up!"

"Well, its your fault for having such a sensitive ear." Misao managed to get out through her grin, amused at just how cute Tsukasa was when she was faux angry, waiting for her next remark. However, it never came, as the wide eyed girl was busy trying to understand the awkward position she had been in before correcting herself.

"You looked uncomfortable how you were, so I put you across me instead." Misao told her as she caught the confused look.

"Oh…" The vague memory of snuggling into something soft and warm came back to her memory, and she looked at the two mounds hidden by Misao's thin shirt, before red stained her cheeks and she gulped.

"Something wrong Imouto?" Misao said smirking, not finding it hard to read Tsukasa had been thinking. Stretching her arms above her she feigned a yawn and lifted her arms over her head, giving Tsukasa a perfect view as her shirt was pressed into her figure and two blobs of flesh bounced up and down .

The embarrassed girl pursed her lips and shook her head rapidly, though the rosy red of her cheeks didn't fade in the slightest.

"Um… did I sleep through the whole movie?" Tsukasa asked eventually.

"Yep. You must have been really tired." _'Still are by the looks of it actually. Not surprising since we walked so much.' _"Don't worry about it, I didn't mind."

"But the whole point was keeping you company…" She replied sadly.

"I'd call an hour hug pretty good company, wouldn't you Imouto?" Misao returned smiling.

"Was it good?" Tsukasa asked. "T-The movie, I mean. Not the hug."

"I enjoyed it. It was nice and romantic, if a bit long." Misao caught her eye, and Tsukasa found herself wondering which thing the orange eyed girl had been referring to. "Ready to go?"Tsukasa nodded, and stood up, stretching as she did. Misao did the same, making a noise that registered somewhere between a purr and a growl as she arched her back as far back as it could go like a cat might do. The two of them picked up their bags and walked out of the dark room into the bright lobby, the smaller of the two unbalanced slightly by both her fatigue and the sudden change in light.

"Hey, don't fall over Imouto." Misao warned her friend as she tripped over herself, grabbing the girls arm to stop her falling.

"Sorry, I'm still a little tired." Tsukasa apologized as she was lifted back to her feet. "Thank you."

"Wow… its getting dark outside." Misao said, looking out through the door. "We'd better hurry." Tsukasa nodded in agreement, not wanting to be trapped in a dark city at night. The two of them rushed through the door and into the chill of the night, Tsukasa noticing that whilst she herself was trembling Misao wasn't even fazed, despite the fact she had not unwrapped her hooded top from around her waist. It took far less time to get to the dress makers than the smaller girl remembered it taking to walk from there, but she eventually decided that that was probably just her sleepy mind playing tricks on her. At any rate she was glad there was a bench outside, and quickly flopped down with her bags onto the hard wood, longing for the warmth and comfort of the train seats. Behind her Misao ran inside the large fancy looking store, and Tsukasa waited patiently for her to come out.

On the exposed seat, Tsukasa began to shiver as it got colder, rubbing her arms to restore some heat. The breeze went straight through the thin dress, and she hadn't thought of putting a shirt on underneath it. Heck, the only thing she was wearing underneath were her panties, since a bra would have just shown through (and she didn't really need one anyway). For a moment she considered putting something on from the things she had bought today, but as she ran a mental inventory through the three bags of clothes she realised nothing in there was really cold weather worthy. All of it was as thin as what she had on now.

And so the petite girl went back to shivering, trying to ignore the Goosebumps forming on her arms and clamping her mouth closed to stop her teeth chattering.

All of a sudden her world went black as something was dropped over her head and her face was covered. She jumped in shock before calming down, the thing was warm, and soft. It smelled nice. Pulling the material off of her head she realised it was Misao's hooded sweatshirt.

"You look cold Imouto. Put that on." Misao told her, leaning over the back of the bench with a smile. In her hands, along with her three or so bags of shopping was a small but expensive looking wrapped present, which Tsukasa guessed was the dress.

"What about you?""I'm fine, I wasn't using it anyway." She replied, dismissing her concerns with a wave of her hand.

Tsukasa smiled gratefully and pulled it over her head, struggling through it until her head popped out the collar. Misao smirked as she watched, finding the image irresistibly cute. Reaching out she flattened Tsukasa's messed up hair for her, a soft smile on her face that made Tsukasa feel warm inside.

"Ready to go again?" She asked.

"Uh-huh." Tsukasa nodded, the hood flapping behind her as she did so. Quickly she pulled the shirt down as far as it would go over her hips and picked up her bags, wincing at the strain they put on her arms. Clothes weren't heavy, but lots of them together with soda, chocolates, CDs and more definitely was.

"Hey, you want me to carry a few of those?"

"No thanks, I'm okay." Tsukasa declined politely even whilst a bag struck painfully into the side of her leg.

"Suit yourself…" They continued walking, Misao taking worried glances at Tsukasa as they went. She really seemed to be exhausted. Her eyes were drooping and glazed, her legs seemed shaky and her arms looked like they hurt from the way she kept shifting weight around, struggling with her bags. At least now she looked warm though…

Not that she wasn't cold herself, or tired for that matter. But she spared only a fleeting thought for herself, when Tsukasa was around to care for. It took only a few more seconds of watching her smaller companion struggling before she couldn't take it anymore.

"Give me on of those." Misao said rolling her eyes and grabbing at the heaviest looking of the bags. "If you carry on like that you'll fall over or something."

"B-But the stations right there." The blue eyed girl replied sheepishly, not wanting to cause her generous friend more trouble than she already had.

"Don't care, give it or you lose an arm." She told her firmly.

"T-Thanks…" Tsukasa said gratefully.

As they walked Tsukasa could feel the ache in her shoulders recede, and watched surprised as Misao didn't seem to be troubled by the extra weight at all.

"Come on, if we don't get there in the next five minutes we'll have to wait for the next train." The orange eyed girl told her, glancing at her watch.

"C-Coming!"

* * *

"Ah…" Misao purred loudly as she slumped on a train seat, dropping her bags beside her. Tsukasa did the same, though far less vocally, and sighed happily. The train seat was still warm from the last person who had sat there, something that normally made her uncomfortable but here was nothing short of heaven.

"There, all done." Misao said out loud, her head not moving from the drooping position she held it in. "That was exhausting."

"Yeah…" Tsukasa agreed lazily.

"Damn." Misao groaned unhappily. "I just remembered, we've still gotta walk home after this."

"I don't wanna." The Hiiragi girl said, as a wide yawn took control of her mouth. "Which stop are you Misa-Chan?"

"It's the one after yours I think. Neither of us need to get off for a while, don't worry." Misao told her, closing her eyes and snuggling into the seat

"We can relax…" Tsukasa agreed, smiling and doing the same.

In the back of Tsukasa's mind, it occurred to her that falling asleep on a train late at night is among the stupidest things you can do. At the same time however, the more influential front of her mind was describing the benefits of sleep in loud clear letters, eclipsing the unimportant mumbling of the brain cells that handled common sense.

As Kagami would have said, Tsukasa had absolutely no willpower. Admittedly this was true, but it is worth noting that even had Kagami been in this situation instead she too would have fallen asleep. This doesn't tell you as much about the minds of the Hiiragi twins as it does about the nature of warm train seats.

In Misao's mind, the single brain cell among millions that handled common sense was out to lunch, and even if it had been around would have seen no problems with its owner sleeping wherever she damn well liked.

People who think like this are often described as carefree, but in fact its not so much they don't care about anything as they do care about an entirely different set of things than normal people do. To this kind of person, a trivial thing like staying awake on a train deserves no attention, whilst something like carefully rearranging the different books in a friend's light novel collection so they don't notice for days that one volume from each set has been hidden under their parents bed deserves every iota of concentration.

In short. One fell asleep because she was tired, the other because she didn't see any reason not to.

Misao grumbled under her breath as someone rushed past her seat, knocking her legs painfully. Against all instinct to fall back asleep she opened her eyes and caught a look at a bright light on the other side of the train. Another look changed the blinding white into something that approached legible writing, and another into a sign displaying the name of the next station. _'Oh, that's Imouto's stop in a few minutes..'_

Shaking her head to wake herself quicker she looked to the side at Tsukasa, still asleep in her seat, and quickly woke her as well.

"Huh?" Tsukasa said, after she had finished one particularly long yawn. "Is it time to get off already?" She asked as she opened her eyes.

"Yep. Come on, you don't want to miss it." Misao told her, holding out her arm to help Tsukasa up. The two of them walked to the train's door, waiting for the next stop.

"Oh, Misa-Chan!" Tsukasa span to face her suddenly. "I didn't give this back." She said, pulling on the hooded top she had borrowed.

"Its okay Imouto, keep it. Looks pretty cold out there, you'll probably need it more than I will."

"Thank you…" Tsukasa said shyly, whilst looking out the trains window. The world outside did look fairly chilly. But worse was the dark. The clocks on the told her it was already almost eight, and by now the sun had long finished going down.

"Something wrong?" Misao asked, catching the worried look on her face.

"I-Its dark." Tsukasa mumbled quietly.

"Aww… it that all? Is lil' Imouto afraid of the dark?" Misao teased, her voice sickly sweet on purpose.

"No!" The shorter girl replied hotly. "I just… don't like it." Tsukasa looked to the window with worry. She hadn't thought of it before but now she realised, if she wanted to get home she would have to walk there all by herself in the dark. The worried girl mentally reprimanded herself for not thinking of it earlier. After all, from her house Misao's was in the complete opposite direction that the train station was, so if the brown haired girl was to get off at the same stop she was then she would be forced to walk more than double the distance she normally would just to get home.

"You know the way home, right?" Misao asked.

"Um…" Tsukasa began. "I think so. I've never really walked home in the dark without Oneechan before." She admitted. Misao looked at he small girl, glancing fearfully out of the window every few seconds, and saw that mix of worry and guilt in the way she stood and the way she spoke. It wasn't hard to read her. Tsukasa was terrified of going home in the dark by herself, but she would never ask for help because she didn't want to be a burden. _'Guess this is what happens when you rely on your sister for everything.' _Misao thought to herself. _'When you need to know things for yourself, you don't.'_

Despite that she still felt jealous of the young Hiiragi. The only child of the Kusakabe union had never had anyone to act as a big sister to her. On the contrary she had spent her entire life being a foster older sister to others, be it to Hiyori or even Ayano. And now she didn't even get to be that. Hiyori had Konata, and Ayano was far more confident and responsible now than she had been all those years ago, experience forcing her to grow up. And even if she wasn't, going back to that role would have been uncomfortable considering everything they'd gone though since.

"Tsukasa?" Misao asked simply, foregoing the usual nickname. "Are you sure you can get home okay? Or do you want me to walk you?" Tsukasa looked at her wide eyed, surprised she had offered.

"You don't mind?" She asked, looking over the taller girl's face carefully for any sign of annoyance. Had this been a member of her family, they would have been more likely to scold her than help, at least at first, but Misao's face showed nothing but a gentle expression.

"Of course I don't Imouto." She said warmly. "Besides, if I let you go and something happened your sister would kill me." Tsukasa smiled at that, even though she still looked a little ashamed at herself. When the train door finally opened, Misao made sure she hadn't left any of her stuff and led them out into the platform, lit only by its electric lights now that the sun had long ago gone down. Tsukasa followed gratefully up the steps and through the station, not saying a word as they passed through the turnstiles but immeasurably happy she didn't have to go home alone, and that she got to spend a little more time with her newest friend.

"Thanks for this Misa-Chan." Tsukasa finally said timidly, as they exited the building and walked out onto the street.

"I said before, I don't mind so stop thanking me." Misao replied with a smile, even as she was plotting her mental map to the Hiiragi household. "Come on, its this way."

"Hope it doesn't rain." Tsukasa said looking up at the sky as she walked alongside Misao, swapping her heavy bags from one arm to the other as each limb fell asleep in turn, knowing she would only get more tired as the night dragged on. The blue eyed girl had tried to boost her stamina, but nothing had ever really worked for her. She hated running, and getting sweaty at all made her feel dirty so she had to get a shower almost immediately. If it was up to her she would have spent her entire life in an air conditioned room.

"Yeah, that'd suck." Misao replied, making sure to slow her pace so the smaller girl didn't fall behind.

For the next few minutes they simply walked together, Tsukasa feeling increasingly thankful as they passed dark alleyways and corners, made twisting turns and heard strange background noises. Of course, none of these (except perhaps the twisting directions) were any more dangerous with or without someone else. But she knew had it been just her she would have jumped in fright at everything she saw. A sheltered life with a surplus of older sisters had made Tsukasa timid, thoughtful and quiet, but it had also made her quick to become lonely and anxious whenever she was. She knew all this, and she also knew that the addition of darkness and the possibility of being lost did nothing to help her.

Here she had Misao, and the taller confident girl made her feel safer than anyone else did. If something happened, she could just reach out and hold her hand. And no matter what she could always just reach other and grab a hold of that tanned hand.

"Why so quiet Imouto?" Misao's gaze flicked to the side to face her friend, looking her in the eyes as she realised how long the smaller girl had been staring at her.

"Huh?" Tsukasa was pulled from her thoughts, "Oh, sorry. I was just thinking."

"Anything interesting about me in there?" Misao asked mischievously, tapping her own head with her forefinger to illustrate herself.

"No." Tsukasa mumbled, turning away in embarrassment as she realised Misao had noticed her absent minded staring.

"Sure~?" The brown haired girl crooned, rubbing her head against Tsukasa's shoulder like a cat as they walked, much to the smaller girl's shock.

"Y-Yes!" She stuttered again, wondering absentmindedly if her left arm had paralysed itself because Misao was touching it or because she didn't want to pull away.

"Suit yourself." She shrugged, and moved her head back up to admire Tsukasa's wide eyed embarrassed face. Cute was an understatement, she just wished the girl didn't look so worried all the time. Well, that and she wished she knew whether or not Tsukasa's reactions to her behaviour were normal for the blue eyed girl, or restricted to when she herself did it. "So… how's you're sister been? I've only gotten to see her once recently, and she was too distracted with all that work."

"She's been okay…" Tsukasa began, hoping her cheeks had faded back to their normal colour. "She'll be home tonight, you could come in and talk to her then if you wanted."

"Nah, its much more fun getting the scoop from you, she'll never tell the absolute truth if it embarrasses her." Misao pointed out. "Which is why you need to look out for clues to who she's got a crush on."

"Huh?" Tsukasa asked, confused at first until she remembered Misao's suspicions from the day before last. "Oh, you said Oneechan's been acting differently didn't you?"

"Uh-huh." Misao said, nodding her head. "I didn't notice until a few days ago, but its there!" The brown haired girl pointed her finger dramatically upwards, trying to emphasize her statement.

"How?" "She's quieter, and she doesn't react as much when I play a trick on her. Plus I saw her looking at a magazine about weddings when we'd finished studying." Misao said as she nodded confidently, as if that was the only evidence anyone would ever need. "Why would she buy that if she isn't interested in someone?"

"Um… sorry. That was mine." Tsukasa told her carefully.

"Damn, really?"

"Uh-huh." The young twin nodded, feeling a little guilty for spoiling Misao's fun.

"Well, it still proves something. She wouldn't be looking through them if she wasn't thinking about that kinda stuff."

"Wouldn't that be a little serious for Oneechan to be doing?"

"What ya mean?"

"Well, if you've only just noticed she wouldn't have had the crush very long. Oneechan wouldn't be thinking of marriage already." Tsukasa explained, thinking hard about if she could remember any strange behaviour on her sister's part. Nothing came to mind specifically, but still… she couldn't help but agree a little that she had been acting slightly different.

"Yeah, guess you're right." Misao agreed. "But I'm sure something's up, only a matter of time before I figure out what it is."

"Oh, um… can we sit down for a second?" Tsukasa asked as they walked past a empty bus shelter and she noticed a bench inside. "My feet hurt a little…" She explained self consciously, fully aware that Misao probably wasn't tired at all, even as she was aching from the combination of fast walking and carrying so much stuff.

"Sure Imouto." Misao agreed, watching as Tsukasa sat down with an audible sigh and following suit. _'Guess I should've kept my pace down.' _Misao thought to herself, as she had realised many hours earlier that whilst by no means unattractive or overweight - though perhaps in possession of a little puppy fat - Tsukasa was not an athletic person. She didn't seem to have any stamina at all, surprising considering all they'd done was walk around and already Tsukasa had fallen asleep quite a few times. _'Wonder when she normally goes to bed? Pretty early I guess.'_

"Wonder if we could get a bus to your place…" Misao thought aloud.

"Do you have any money?"

"Nope. Spent it all." Misao replied almost cheerfully."You?"

"No.""Ah well, we must be about halfway by now." Misao lied, never losing her cheerful smile. She knew Tsukasa had no idea where they were, and that she would likely just get depressed if she knew they were only a third way there and had already been walking for almost twenty minutes.

"Really?"

"Yep."

"That's good, I bought too much stuff. Its too heavy."

"Want me to take more? I'm fine." Misao offered, though her friend was already shaking her head.

"You can't take more, you're already carrying too much." The brown haired girl was carrying double what she had, as well as the dress package under one arm.

"Suit yourself." Misao shrugged. They lapsed into silence, Tsukasa just enjoying the weight being taken off of her feet and longing for her nice warm bed. "So they were your magazines?" Misao asked after a while, with a puzzled look on her face.

"Uh-huh." The girl answered, before letting loose a small but drawn out yawn.

"Why do you have magazines for brides?" Misao asked confused.

"I think they're cute…" Tsukasa said shyly. "I like the idea of planning my wedding and what kinda boy I'll marry and stuff. Don't you?"

"You're a real girl." Misao said smiling at her. "And nah, I don't really think about that kinda stuff."

"Why not?"Misao shrugged at her.

"Just stopped paying attention to all that romance stuff years ago."

"You can't just stop being interested in romance." Tsukasa protested.

"I did."

"Why??" Tsukasa asked. Someone couldn't just stop caring about going out with people could they? It didn't sound healthy at all.

Misa shrugged again.

"Who knows?" She replied simply, no trace of emotion in her voice. The same feeling overcame Tsukasa as had come when they had been talking about Misao's mysterious present. The overwhelming feeling that it was a subject best not discussed, like there was a shield in their conversation.

"I've always wanted to have a boyfriend. But no one ever asks me out." Tsukasa said sadly, her eyes dropping to the floor. "Have people asked you out?" She perked up quickly, obviously interested.

"A few from my clubs did, I never agreed though." Misao told her, her voice still a little distant.

"Have you ever gone out with anyone before then?" Tsukasa asked, eager to find out. Misao turned to her and looked her in the eyes, a small but mischievous half smile on her face contrasting with what were still melancholic eyes.

"Curious aren't ya?"

"Sorry." Tsukasa blushed her embarrassment, aware of just how intrusive she was being. "I just really want to know."

"I figured that much." Misao said smiling at her. "And yeah, I have."

"Who?"

"None of your business Imouto." The taller girl stuck her tongue out at her. "Besides, I'm not allowed to say."

"Huh? Why not?" Tsukasa asked, feeling a deep desire within her demanding she knew all she could about the other girl's love life. Or maybe it was just another yawn…

"Come on, we've gotta get going." Misao ignored her question and leapt upwards from the seat. "If we hang around here for much longer you'll never get home."

With a small 'oof' Tsukasa got up herself and stretched. _'How could I be so tired?' _she thought to herself. _'I spent half the time with Misa-Chan sleeping.' _She thought, angry at herself for being unconscious so much throughout their day out, when she could have been having more conversations like this and actually finding out things. Perhaps it had something to do with how little sleep she had gotten last night? For hours she had been unable to doze off, contemplating spending the day with Misao. What she should wear, where they should go, etc. To think the reason she couldn't enjoy it as much was that she'd spent too much time thinking of it. Then they had walked halfway across Tokyo into the different shops each of them liked, and bought bags that couldn't have been heavier with stones in the way.

They began to walk again, Misao going noticeably slower to accommodate Tsukasa, who still had trouble keeping up. The blue eyed girl swayed from side to side and constantly shifted the weight on her arms, making it clear her overflowing bags were far too heavy. Her eyes were heavy lidded, mimicking their attempts in the movies and making their owner fight to keep awake.

After a few minutes of watching Misao stopped and turned towards the smaller girl.

"Misa-Chan?" Tsukasa asked, not understanding why they had stopped but glad they had.

"Put you're stuff down a sec, 'kay Imouto?" Tsukasa obeyed, and watched with guiltily as Misao rearranged the load so that the majority of it all were in a few bags.

"I can't make you carry all that…." Misao didn't reply, instead simply leaving the bags on the floor before approaching her. In an instant, Tsukasa felt herself lifted into the air and realised almost two late to prevent herself unbalancing that Misao was lifting her onto her back, giving her a piggyback ride.

"Misa-Chan!" The blue eyed girl protested as she was pulled upwards, Misao - surprisingly strong for someone who was supposed to be the same age as her - had lifted her upwards in an instant and placed her on her back.

"Don't struggle, you'll fall off." Misao advised firmly, her voice not showing any strain for carrying the deceptively lightweight girl. She bent over slightly, causing Tsukasa to cling on tightly around her, and quickly picked the bags up one by one, eventually rearranging it so she could both support Tsukasa's legs and hold the shopping.

"There, we'll get back faster like this I think." She answered cheerfully, her voice unchanged from before.

"Wh-Wha??" Was all Tsukasa could get out, still surprised by the entire situation.

"If you keep walking like that, it'll be hours before we get back. I'll carry you."

"B-But-" Tsukasa began, blushing beet red from both her proximity to Misao and at thinking how childish she had to look. "I can't make you carry me!" She finally settled on, knowing even Misao couldn't carry her back without any discomfort at all.

"You're not." The taller girl answered simply. "I'm making you get carried by me." With that she began to walk, surprised at finding Tsukasa didn't weight much more than the backpack she had worn for the singular time she had tried hiking. Or was the pack the heavier one?

Tsukasa eventually gave in to her exhausted body and rested her head on Misao's shoulder, feeling the skin beneath the thin green shirt.

"Misa-Chan," She said sleepily, guilty realisation pressing into her voice. "you're freezing cold." Looking down at herself, she tugged absent-mindedly at the thick warm top that Misao had given her because she'd been too stupid to bring a jacket.

"I'm fine," Misao dismissed her concerns without even looking round. "It just seems like I'm colder than I am cause you're warmer." The brown haired girl lied. In reality she was freezing cold, and the warm body of Tsukasa pressing into her back was the only source of heat she had, but she wasn't about to mention that to the girl she was carrying. Tsukasa would almost certainly try to offer her hooded top back, and then she'd just be tired and cold.

"Oh…" She said, sounding a little unsure but eventually deciding to believe her friend. As she grew tired once again, and he head began to droop, the youngest of the Hiiragi twins rested her head on the side of Misao's neck. Her warm breath hit the girls cold skin, and Misao found herself sighing contently at the feeling, a sound that Tsukasa registered only in her subconscious. Somehow, in the midst of the cold and the exhaustion she felt from her efforts, Misao felt better than she had in a long time. Maybe it was the fact that for the first time in a long while, someone actually needed her. Nowadays no one did, not Kagami nor Ayano and even Hiyori had outgrown any need for her, now that she had made other friends. It felt nice to be relied on by someone for a change.

As it became apparent that the girl on her back had fallen asleep against her shoulder, the brown haired teenager made a rare smile innocent of ulterior motives. Now Misao's only thought was a vow to make sure to get that girl to her bed as soon as possible, despite how much she enjoyed feeling her pressed up against her.

* * *

"Excuse me." Inori politely excused herself from her family as she heard the doorbell ring, knowing that it was Kagami's turn to answer it, but deciding to do it herself since she didn't want to interrupt her sister's fun upstairs. It had been a long time since Konata had last come over, but Inori always tried to encourage it. Kagami always seemed so much happier with her around.

Walking out of the living room and into the hallway, the oldest sister made her way to the door, hoping it was Tsukasa. As she did, her mother walked from the kitchen where she had been making a drink.

"Oh, are you getting it Inori?" Her daughter nodded but Miki stayed anyway, also anxious to see Tsukasa return safely when it was so late for her to be out. had Kagami gone with her perhaps she wouldn't have been so worried, but she knew well that Tsukasa was not an independent girl and as her eldest daughter had told her, she had not been able to bring her mobile phone in case something went wrong. Inori opened the door quickly, and both women looked with surprise at the unexpected scene in front of them.

The brown haired girl they both recognized as one of Kagami's friends smiled at them as if nothing at all was wrong, but they both noticed how pale she was and how she was shivering, unsurprising considering how unseasonably cold it was outside and how she seemed to have dressed in nothing thinner than a handkerchief. On each of her arms was three to four heavy looking shopping bags, and most surprisingly of all, on her back was an exhausted looking Tsukasa. She lay with her head on Misao's shoulder, fast asleep and clothed in a hooded shirt she hadn't left the house with. But other from the tired look on her face she looked perfectly fine, only her carrier seemed to be in any actual discomfort.

"Um… Good evening." Misao said finally, not sure why the two women were staring at her so strangely. "Something wrong?"

* * *

There we go, finished. This would have been out earlier, but FF wouldnt let me upload it for some reason. Anyways, the next chapter will probably take quite a while too, though hopefully not another full month. See, with the previous three chapters I had basically done them, then spent the week in between going through and adjusting them to be better. It actually takes me a lot of time to write just one chapter of something.

As always, thanks for reading and i hope you enjoyed it.

Edit: I found all the lines of dialogue had become screwed up during the move to FF, so i fixed it.


	5. E:5:S

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Lucky Star. All characters belong to their original creators.

Originally i planned to end this chapter the moment Misao and Tsukasa kissed. However, i then figured this was really mean, because everyone was nice and reviewed a lot. For that reason, i did two things to be nice. The first is simple, this chapter is double the size of my normal chapters. The second you ask? Well, I have planned a bonus chapter to add onto the end of this one. It will poke into the plot I planned for the next story just a little, and hopefully keep you anxious for more MisaoTsukasa stuff whilst I plan and write (which will take a long time).

Before we start, I'd like to ask you all a question. When I write the new fiction, would you all prefer really long chapters like this or shorter ones, bearing in mind the different amounts of time they will take?

* * *

"Ts-Tsukasa!" Inori couldn't think of anything else to say, thinking something terrible had happened.

"Is she alright?" Miki asked, looking a little closer than Inori had, seeing no signs of real harm on her.

"Huh?" Misao took a second to view the scene from someone else's perspective, and guessed what it looked like. "Yeah, she's fine. Just tired."

"Oh thank goodness." The oldest sister said to herself, calming now that she knew the truth.

"Can I come in?" Misao asked.

"Oh, of course. I'm sorry." The mother of the Hiiragi family apologized, moving out of the way and allowing Misao to walk inside.

"Whoa, what happened to Tsukasa?" Matsuri asked as she entered the hall, having heard the commotion from the other room. "Did she fall asleep on the way back or something?"

"Yep." Misao answered, slightly awkwardly. Having people's attention on her was not something that usually bothered her, but when it was attention relating to Tsukasa it made her feel a little nervous. There were some things she didn't need people poking into, like her motives.

"And you carried her here from the station?" Matsuri asked, impressed. "Don't you get off at another stop though?"

"Yeah."

"Well that was extremely kind of you Kusakabe-San, Tsukasa has trouble sometimes with directions." Inori thanked the younger girl politely, before reaching to take her sister from the younger girl's back. "I'll take her to bed, I think she needs it." As Inori touched Misao's arm her hand jumped back from shock at the cold skin. Taking her sister and cradling her in her arms, she couldn't help but notice the way Misao's body slumped now she didn't have to carry her. She was likely just as exhausted as Tsukasa, probably from carrying her all the way there.

"I can't thank you enough for making sure she got home." Tsukasa's mother told her earnestly.

"No problem." Misao said, wondering how many times she had said that today. "She wasn't very heavy or anything. I've got her stuff here too I think." Taking the plastic bags from her arms she winced as she felt the handles pull from her skin.

"Oh my, look at your arms!" Miki said suddenly, looking worried again. Misao looked down and saw the deep red lines that were present where the plastic had pinched into her flesh.

"Oh, guess they were a little heavy." She dismissed the older woman's worries with a shrug, making it clear that if it hurt it didn't bother her. "Oh well, tell Tsukasa I had a great time when she wakes up." The brown haired girl chuckled before making for the door.

"Hey, aren't you gonna get your top back off Tsukasa?" Matsuri asked.

"Nah, she can keep it for tonight. It'll keep her warm in bed and I don't wanna have to wake her." She answered. There was also the fact that Misao knew well that Konata was in the house, and she really didn't want to have to meet her again, let alone stay in the same house for more than a few minutes.

"Are you walking home?" Tsukasa's mother asked, surprised.

"Um… yep."

"Oh no, I can't let you do that." Miki told her, shocked the ragged young girl was even entertaining the idea of walking back home in her state. She didn't say it out loud, but it was apparent at least to Matsuri what her mother was thinking. That Misao looked terrible, and if they let her walk home by herself she'd probably walk into a road in a daze. "You can stay here and have the spare rollout bed in Tsukasa's room." Miki finished, her voice taking on the kindly authoritative tone of a mother.

"Yeah," Matsuri agreed, seeing her mother glance at her - a silent encouragement to back her up.. "Kagami's having a friend over anyway, might as well be two of you."

"I'm not really that tired, really." Misao told her earnestly. The sentence probably would have been more convincing had she not, as she lifted her shopping back onto her arms, unbalanced and fallen over cleanly backwards. Landing heavily on her back with a pained 'oomph'.

"Oh my, are you all right?" Tsukasa's mother asked, kneeling down beside her.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Misao answered, rubbing her head where she had banged it and wincing, almost unable to believe she'd done something like that.

"Matsuri, could you call Misao's mother and tell her she's staying here? Her number should be in the phone book."

"'Kay." Her daughter answered, moving off to the phone.

"Don't argue please, you certainly aren't going anywhere after that." Miki said, her voice kind but firm. Eventually Misao conceded, though she was still unsure whether or not to be pleased about staying over. On the one hand, it offered the chance to spend more time around Tsukasa, and she was extremely tired, being built more for sprinting than endurance. On the other, she would have to spend time around Konata and continuously watch herself to make sure she didn't do anything she shouldn't whilst her crush was helpless and asleep.

"Thanks." The brown haired girl said as Tsukasa's mother helped pull her from the floor.

At that point there was the sound of two footsteps coming down the stairs, and Misao watched as Kagami and Konata descended.

"I'll let you girls catch up." Miki said as she returned to the kitchen, happy that everything had turned out alright.

"Hey Kusakabe." Kagami greeted her with, as Konata stood behind watching her curiously. "Inori came up a few seconds ago and told me everything. Thanks for bringing Tsukasa back."

"Did you two remember to get my game?" The short girl behind her asked eagerly, an excited look on her face. Misao reached into her bag and pulled it out, throwing it to Konata without a word.

"What's that?" Kagami asked, curious.

"It's a game I got Tsukasa to buy for me. I've been looking forward to getting it, but I was banned from the only place that sold it around here." Konata answered. She stayed silent for a second, before turning to Kagami and giving the sweetest smile she could muster. "Can I borrow your computer?"

"No." The pigtailed girl answered firmly, immediately growing suspicious with the use of the word 'banned'.

"Come on~~" Konata whined, reaching up to pull on her friend's pigtails lightly.

"I thought I told you not to do that!" Kagami huffed. Misao stood in the background, already feeling a little ignored, but not caring too much if it meant she could somehow sneak away from Konata. Being in the same house was bad enough, but having to actually see Konata and Kagami hanging out? That was her idea of torture. "It doesn't work on me." The older twin assured her friend with a frown.

Still…

"Yeah, if you really want to bother her try poking her sides and tickling her." Misao suggested nonchalantly, doing away with her imaginary rivalry for the time it took for one expert in annoyance to give another a few tips.

"Huh? I thought Tsukasa would be the ticklish one." Konata asked, surprised.

"Nah, they're both as bad as each other." Misao replied. Intensely glad for some reason that she had known something about her friend that Konata hadn't. "You can even make them scream for help if you get them into the right position."

"Don't tell her that!!" Kagami burst out, but knowing the damage was already done. One hand curled around her, and Konata hugged herself close against her friend.

"Aw… poor Kagamin doesn't want me to tickle her?" Konata asked, smirking.

"Of course not." She replied, pushing at the girl attached around her waist before a thought occurred to her. "Hey Kusakabe! How did you find out Tsukasa's that ticklish too?!"

"Same way as I did with you Hiiragi-Chan." Misao said, winking mischievously.

"T-The same way?" Kagami asked, her eyes widening as she remembered the embarrassment that had caused.

"Yeah, by pinning her down and doing it until she couldn't take it anymore." Misao announced with a wide smirk, a warm tingly glow in her stomach as she remembered both occasions.

"Oh-hoh?" The blue haired girl realised she wasn't the only one who registered innuendo in that sentence when she saw the light blush on her friend's face. Or maybe that was blushing at memory? "What secret past do you two have eh?"

"Shut up!" Kagami said angrily. "And don't think perverted things."

"Well, I try. But I'm jealous."

"Wha- Why??" The Tsundere asked, vaguely aware she probably shouldn't have asked.

"Cause Misao here has held both the Hiiragi twins down and made them scream, I usually only get dreams like tha-"

"SHUT UP!!" Their mutual tease shouted even louder, blushing beet red. "Come on, I don't want to have conversations with you two where my family can hear." Kagami huffed, heading upstairs to her room, beckoning her friends to follow her with a sigh. They did, though she noticed how Misao took occasional resentful glances towards her other friend.

It was no secret to her - or almost anyone that knew Misao at all - that the brown haired girl disliked her best friend intensely, often to the point of outright hostility. Konata on the other hadn't didn't seem to actively dislike Misao, but Kagami noticed she had never made any effort to befriend her or even have a lengthy conversation with her, unusual for the naturally friendly teenager. At any rate, the majority of the time they stayed as far away from each other as they could, and in general Kagami tried to help this state of affairs continue. After all, one of the two on their own was bad enough, putting them both together was a terrifying thought that was fast becoming a living nightmare. She only hoped she had the strength to survive the night without breaking down and using one of them to bludgeon the other to death.

Kagami walked into her room and sat down on her bed with a book, taking a potato chip from her table as she did so. Konata entered quickly behind her, taking her place at the PS2 and resuming her game. Misao was the last to come in and deprived of anything interesting to do she leaned against a wall and slowly slumped down, sliding downwards until she finally landed on the floor with a bump. From then her attention shifted from watching Kagami read or watching Konata play videogames, and seeing how well she was doing without any effort in the slightest.

"Wanna play with me?" Konata offered suddenly, and Misao realised she had been looking at the screen too long. She shrugged but got up, even though she could never win against someone so good and probably couldn't have any real fun with Konata. Not unless she made some fun for herself anyway.

"So we meet again shrimp." Misao told her as she sat down, putting on a voice that was as deep and villainous as her naturally singsong vocal cords could get to. "You are foolish if you think you shall escape this confrontation alive!"

"Eh?" Konata asked innocently, sounding confused.

"You two can carry on your routine here, I'm going to the bathroom." Kagami told them, excusing herself. The moment she had left the room Konata's head whipped to the side - her long hair following its master under a three second time lag - so she was facing her opponent.

"It is you who are foolish, for I will be victorious!" Konata returned under the same villainous guise, which worked even less for someone who looked like the worlds laziest little girl. She laughed as deeply as she could, trying to mimic the stereotypical bad guy.

"Then let us do battle, the game shall decide which is the better player!" Misao pressed start, and the game began. Their two fighters raised their fists at each other.

"Poor misguided Misao, you fail to realise I was the winner before we even began." One character on the screen launched into action, beating the other in an elaborate combo before striking it across the arena. From there Konata only increased her onslaught, stopping just before the death point for gloating rights before she could move in for the kill.

"How's that Fang-Chan" Misao turned to look at her, the evil villain look on her face as she repeated Konata's earlier line.

"Poor misguided midget."

"Huh?"

"You fail to realise I switched the controllers ages ago." For the last part Misao's normal voice returned and she stuck her tongue out in a taunt. Konata's mouth flew open and she looked closer at the screen. It was true, below her name was the red blinking light that claimed only seven percent of her life was left.

"Wha?? When??" Konata stuttered, trying to remember any moment where her opponent had even been within a metre of the console. None came to mind.

Whilst Misao sucked at videogames she was evidently a lot better at sneaking around.

"You can't win now ya know." Misao taunted. In a flash Konata had switched the controllers back, so she was the right person again.

"Wanna bet?" She asked, readying her fighter for combat.

A few minutes later, Konata was victorious and it was Misao's turn to stare at the screen in shock. Eventually she gave up trying to make sense of it and stood, strolling over to Kagami's bed and sitting down on it heavily, with a large childish frown across her face.

An ordinary person might have seen the obvious signs of sulking and left her alone, but there wasn't a normal person in the room.

Konata crawled from where she had been playing the game over to the bed, putting her head on Misao's knee like a cat.

"You don't like me much do you?" The smaller girl asked simply.

"No." Misao responded entirely truthfully, not bothering to push the short girl's head from her.

"Not at all?" The girl on the bed tensed ever so slightly as Konata began to nuzzle her knee, completely unused to the sensation of someone else being the initiator to whatever this could be considered as. She didn't allow anything to show however, knowing the whole point was for Konata to see if she could bother her.

"Nope."

"Oh well." Konata shrugged and upon the lack of reaction stopped her strange behaviour, standing upright and looking thoughtful for a second. "Is Kagamin still in the bathroom?" It had been a bit long hadn't it? She poked her head out the door and checked, sure enough the door was closed.

"Wonder what she's doing in there." Misao said suggestively, despite her company.

"Wanna go find out?" Konata offered cheerfully.

Misao sat still on the bed, trying to keep her annoyed persona up as long as she could before it shattered at the mouth watering idea of both infuriating Kagami and seeing her in a compromising pose.

"Yeah, I really do." She admitted, standing up suddenly. "But I still don't like you!" The brown haired girl followed with immediately.

"That's okay," Konata replied shrugging. "I don't really like you either."

The two of them walked from the room, an unlikely alliance eager to cause more mischief.

* * *

Kagami exited the room, hearing someone announcing something in an evil voice but ignoring it. She would let Misao and Konata have their squabbles. Hopefully they would get too wrapped up in one another to bother her.

Before going to the bathroom, the older Hiiragi twin decided to check in on her sister in her room, and snuck in quietly, making sure not to wake her. Inori had drawn the curtains before tucking her in, but whilst she had tucked the small girl in she hadn't undressed her. Kagami considered doing it herself, but she didn't want to have to wake her up. Besides, it wasn't as if Misao would urgently need the hooded shirt she had given to her.

Standing beside her sister, Kagami wasn't sure whether to sigh or laugh as she saw the slightly younger girl was actually sucking her thumb. She ended up going for an amused sigh, wondering how it was Tsukasa had turned out like she had. It wasn't like she was a complete kid, Kagami knew that most of the more adult orientated things she knew her sister knew too, and whilst she was never sure what Konata had told her sister before she had started hanging out in their classroom more she still had suspicions. But to see her lying there sucking her thumb and dressed in the same style of full length pyjamas from years ago (things she also wore, but still…) it was hard not to roll her eyes.

Intent on trying to mature her sister somehow, she pulled the girl's hand from her mouth and layed it on the pillow beside her, before exiting the room.

As she entered the bathroom, locked the door and sat down, she couldn't help but feel thankful to Misao for being so kind to her sister. Whatever had caused her sudden interest in making friends she wasn't sure, but the pigtailed girl was sure that as long as she didn't play her tricks, there were a lot worse friends in the world than Misao.

After a few seconds Kagami was sure she hear something - speech coming from outside the door. Listening carefully, she heard a few snippets of a conversation.

"So, how are we supposed to get in?" It sounded like Misao.

"If you jiggle it and hit the door just right, the lock clips right back." That was undeniably Konata.

"Kay… so where do you hit it?"

"There, and there." Outside, there was a slight tapping at Konata's fingernails clicked on the wood of the door.

In an instant, the two girls burst through a door that was now only previously secured, and their eyes locked with Kagami. Two previously confident teenagers realised that whilst they had planned this part out pretty well, they hadn't dedicated any time to exactly what they would do _after _breaking in. Planning ahead was really something that happened to other people.

"GET OUT!!!" Kagami roared through a progressively redder face, causing the other two to scatter like petrified mice. _'I take back everything nice I thought about you Kusakabe!!' _She growled in her own mind. _'And I've never had anything nice to say about that other brat! I'm going to kill you both!!' _

* * *

"Where are you two!?!" Kagami all but shouted as she entered her room, furious at her two torturers. "I know you're in here! There's no where else you can go!" The angered girl told them as she saw her room was mysteriously empty.

"Kagami!" A voice called nervously in from the hallway, and the girl in question realised it was her mother. "We're all going to bed now dear, would you mind if you kept the noise down?"

"'Kay Mom." She called back, making sure not to betray her complete and consuming anger to her family. Turning back into the room, she continued her venting as quietly as she could. "How could you two do that?" She hissed at the empty room. "How would one of you like it?"

"I wouldn't mind." A previously innocent looking bed told her in Misao's voice.

"I'd let you in myself." The same area told her, though in Konata's voice instead.

"I know where you are." The Tsundere told them, her left eye developing a slightly worrying twitch.

"Crap." The voices proclaimed together.

Kagami leapt onto her bed and pulled the covers across. There, in the gap where the bed met the wall, a larger space had been pushed open. Inside Misao and Konata had hidden themselves, picking the only spot they could think of individually before finding the other had thought of it too and just going with the idea anyway. The result was two girls who could barely move, trying to hide behind one another and hoping Kagami didn't start 'physically educating' them.

"Why did you do that??" Kagami asked the duo in her embarrassed but angry growl.

"Um…" Konata began - instantly loosing credibility. "We were worried, you'd been gone a long time."

"Worried? You two are just perverts!" Kagami claimed, making sure her voice didn't get loud enough for her family to hear easily. "I've got news for you! I'm not here for your amusement!" She growled.

"Yeah, you're for my homework too." The shortest girl there agreed, earning herself a barely restrained rap on the head. Kagami looked across, waiting for Misao to make a smart comment.

"Hey, don't look at me. For me, you _are _here just for my amusement." The rap across the head was significantly harder than Konata's had been. In fact, it could be more accurately called a light punch.

"If you two are this desperate to do perverted stuff, go do what normal girls do and find some guys instead!"

"Ah, who needs guys." Misao huffed. Kagami rolled her eyes at her long time friend, already aware that she had never been interested in romantic situations. Konata stared at the girl she was sharing her hiding space with for a few seconds, before shrugging it off.

"Well why me? You don't do this stuff to Ayano!" The older twin complained.

"That's because Ayano terrifies me when she's mad." Misao answered, and it took a few seconds for the other girls to realise there had been no joking in her voice. "Your reactions are just funny."

"She's right Kagamin. You always react in fun ways." Konata agreed.

"Be quiet whilst I think of a way to punish you." Kagami said exhaustedly.

"Kay, well whilst you're doing that I'm gonna go set up my futon and go to sleep." Misao announced them, a small yawn giving a show of how tried she was. "Your mom said it was in Tsukasa's room right?"

"Hey, don't think you're getting out of this that easily!" Kagami told her, still angry. It was useless though. In one smooth movement Misao jumped out from the hiding space and slipped between her arm, unbalancing her friend as she went. The Hiiragi shouted as she unbalanced and feel onto Konata's stomach with an 'oomph', sending out a random kick that her fanged friend was just able to dodge.

"Kusakabe…" She growled as fearsomely as was possible whilst mixed up in a tangle of limbs with Konata.

"You two enjoy each other." Misao said, giving them a mischievous wink before strolling out of the room confidently. "I'm sure Konata can suggest the punishment." She called before the door was closed.

"Ah…" Konata gave a quiet sound of pain as an elbow poked her in the chest. "Kagamin, you're hurting me." She explained, trying to shift her position.

"Sorry, you okay?" The Tsundere asked on reflex and moved her elbow away, before remembering how infuriated she was. "Wait, you deserve it you demon!"

"Yeah yeah, just be careful if you're gonna punish me like that. I don't have any cushioning there like you." Konata replied cheerfully, poking Kagami firmly in the chest.

"This isn't funny!" Kagami said as she slapped the hand away.

"Nah, you're right." The blue haired teenager agreed, before an evil smile made its way onto her face. "But this is…"

"What?" Kagami asked, finding herself unable to back away when they were still so entangled.

"Tickle fight!!"

"No! No! No!" Kagami shrieked as her friend attacked, shouting curses against both her friends between her unwilling giggling.

* * *

Tsukasa stirred in her sleep, moving around uncomfortably before she finally awoke. As her senses came to her the young girl recoiled in disgust as she realised she was drenched in sweat. Droplets covered her forehead and her neck, it ran in rivulets down her back and soaked into patches under her arms, in the small of her back and in between her legs, giving a fundamentally unpleasant feeling of dirtiness over her entire body.

The second thing she felt was the emptiness in her stomach and a rumbling as she felt intense hunger, having missed her evening meal completely.

Tsukasa realised that whoever had brought her here hadn't undressed her, so she was still clothed in her dress and even Misao's hooded sweatshirt. The central heating system seemed to be on full blast - probably turning itself on when it sensed the cold and getting turned up by a still chilly family member - and on top of all that she was still wrapped in the layers of blankets and covers she usually needed to keep warm. The result was simple, whilst the outside of the house was a freezer, the inside of her room and her bed especially felt like a stifling oven.

Too tired and hot to take the clothes off, she settled for trying to kick the covers off but only managed to push them down slightly as she found they had been tucked tightly into the sides of her bed. _'I'll never get back to sleep now…' _She moaned in her head. _'Its too hot!' _Turning to her side she tried to take more of her body from the sweat drenched mattress below her. In her new position she could see two extra things, one was her alarm clock which told her it was past midnight, a time she couldn't stay up to. The other was the empty futon a little under a metre from her bed, seemingly abandoned.

As soon as she noticed it she began to hear footprints coming towards her room. The door opened slowly as someone entered, before closing tighter than before and letting in even less light than there had been.

"Oh, Imouto. Did I wake you?" Misao's voice greeted her, coming from a dark outline she could see lithely making its way across the room towards her.

"Misa-Chan?" Tsukasa asked happily.

"Yep."

"But weren't you going to walk home?"

"Yeah, I stayed over." The silhouette told her. "I kinda hurt all over so I couldn't walk home."

"I'm glad." Tsukasa said quietly, before she realised what she had said. "A-About you staying over, not about you being hurt!" She explained, her face reddening slightly.

"Well, I hope ya don't mind me sleeping in your room." Misao said smiling.

"Not at all." Tsukasa shook her head out of force of habit, knowing Misao couldn't possibly see her. "Um… Misa-Chan? Could you turn the light on? Its strange talking to someone I can't see." Misao chuckled, wondering to herself if Tsukasa really was afraid of the dark.

The petite girl blinked a few times as the room filled with light , letting her eyes adjust to the sudden change.

"Oh, sorry. I had to borrow this to get a glass of water." Misao apologized as she sat down on the end of the bed, and Tsukasa saw she had borrowed her dressing gown. The belt remained untied however, the only thing keeping it closed was the fact that was how Misao had draped it.

"That's okay." Tsukasa said, blushing slightly as she wondered to herself exactly what Misao was wearing underneath the fabric. The dressing gown ended halfway down her legs, revealing the bare tanned limbs to her, and telling her she wasn't wearing much in the way of nightclothes.

"Really warm in here isn't it?"

"Yeah…" Tsukasa agreed tiredly, squirming uncomfortably against the sweat soaked sheets she was lying on. "I haven't been this hot in ages."

"Water?" Misao offered, pointing to the glass she had put down on the table in the middle of the room. Tsukasa sat up in her bed, the idea of a drink heaven to her heat ravaged body. Misao stood up and moved to get it, holding it out for her. Tsukasa drank the pleasantly cool water deeply, glad it was a big glass so she wouldn't feel guilty for leaving Misao without any. Her friend smiled and leaned forwards, happy to see Tsukasa enjoying something she had given her. The dressing gown around her chest fell open slightly as she did so, though she didn't pay it any attention.

As she drank Tsukasa glanced up at her friend. Instantly her eyes widened and she breathed in out of shock, immediately inhaling a lungful of water. The young girl spluttered into the glass and began coughing heavily, almost dropping the glass before Misao managed to steady her hand and take it from her, only spilling a few drops on the duvet. In a flash she had put it back on the table and was patting Tsukasa on the back, under the logic that you could probably treat coughing up water the same way as you could choking.

"You okay Imouto?" Misao asked, worry evident on her face.

"Uh-huh." She managed to get out, still coughing slightly. Once again she glanced to her side, trying to confirm what she had seen, before both embarrassment and sheer will made her fix her eyes firmly forward again. In an instant her earlier thought about what Misao was wearing underneath was answered, a pair of panties and nothing else. The parting of the fabric revealed a line of bare flesh down her chest, falling across a toned and still tan stomach until it reached a thin pair of cotton underwear, similar - but far less substantial - to the ones she was wearing herself. The sides of the dressing gown only just covered Misao's areola, leaving almost half of each small breast free to meet the air.

Tsukasa's blush increased, and she was sure she could hear her own heartbeat in her ears. Misao carried on as carelessly as always, assuming that Tsukasa's strange appearance was caused only by the coughing fit.

"Did you breathe in some water?" She asked, concerned.

"Yeah." Tsukasa said, finding she had to look at her friend when she was speaking to avoid being rude "But I'm fine now." She reassured her, wiping a little bit of liquid from her lips. Whilst Misao had never once shown any problems with showing her body to her, Tsukasa had to wonder whether this was because she didn't care if people saw her naked, or whether she was the only person the taller girl was so comfortable around.

"That's good. I'll get you your own glass if you like?" As Misao shifted beside her on the bed, the fabric covering her right breast fell away by another tantalising millimetre, and the smaller girl was shocked to find herself actually having to fight her own mind not to simply reach out and pull it from her.

"N-No, I'm fine thank you." Tsukasa managed to say, unsure how to react but well aware she was sweating again. Every so often, she took another look at the bare flesh, unable to quench her feelings but trying to with simple glances.

It wasn't like she had never seen other girls naked before. In fact at one point or another she had seen all her sisters, her mother, Konata, Miyuki and even her teacher and Konata's cousin without their clothes on. And of course in a nervous way she'd been interested, especially in seeing how they looked in comparison to herself. But this was not interest, and she wasn't comparing herself to Misao. She was just staring at her.

Despite everything, Tsukasa was not naïve, not entirely. Of course, for a long time she had been sheltered from any thoughts or materials even related to sex. For a while she had been completely unaware there were even such things as girls who loved other girls. The big change had of course come when she met a girl called Konata Izumi.

It was not an understatement to say that Konata had shaped a significant part of Tsukasa's shift into womanhood, answering every one of her nervous questions honestly, without judgement nor any of the teasing that was so her trademark. She had also leant out some of her less racy but still more adult orientated manga, thinking - rightly as it happened - that giving Tsukasa the material in a medium she'd understand was a good way to explain some of the basic concepts to her without embarrassing the hell out of her.

After that, she focused on giving her general advice when asked for it, right up to the moment where Kagami had gotten involved in their daily meetings and the small girl had begged her not to mention any of it for fear of being judged. Now they had their more private conversations by email instead.

Among the gems of wisdom she had been educated was lesson 101: 'How to recognize a crush'. It had been her first question ever to her new friend, asked by a far more innocent Tsukasa long ago when she discovered how knowledgeable Konata was.

'_I have one.'_

'_It's on Misa-Chan.'_

The two thoughts passed through her mind, and she found that the realisation of the fact was not as shocking to her as it should have been. Instead of surprise or fear or worry, there was only a strange form of acceptance, a feeling so pleasantly calm and carefree she hardly felt like she was herself. Of course, Tsukasa knew well that this was not the first time she had felt some level of attraction for her friend, ever since that first compromising position in her sister's room something had been there. _'I guess I really shouldn't be surprised then.' _She thought to herself. _'I know I feel this way, this is just the first time I've admitted it.'_

"Aren't you hot in there Imouto?" Misao asked suddenly, gesturing to the thick covers and breaking the girl from her thoughts.

"Oh, yeahs. I was going to push them off before you came in but I couldn't." Tsukasa told her. Misao wandered over to her, the dressing gown still swaying slightly but never showing more than that small amount of chest. Idly, as if it was hardly worth her thought, one of Misao's hands shifted the dressing gown so it covered her more, though it almost immediately went back to how it was previously.

"Someone tucked your blanket into the side of the bed." The taller girl told her, looking down at the side of the bed. "You couldn't push this off?" She laughed.

"I've only just woken up!" Tsukasa protested, embarrassed at her lack of strength. "Its not my fault I couldn't." Trying to prove her wrong, Tsukasa struggled at pushing the duvet from her bed but failed miserably.

"Okay okay, don't hurt yourself." Misao said as she pulled the sheets from where they had been tucked in the side of the bed. Tsukasa sighed happily as a gust of cold air was sent under the stifling covers before Misao lifted them off completely. Looking up at her, Tsukasa saw Misao standing there with a look of confusion.

"If you're gonna wear your clothes for bed, then no wonder you're hot." She eventually said, putting the duvet at the end of the bed. "Come on," The taller girl told her, putting her hand out. "If you carry on wearing my sweatshirt then you'll roast to death no matter how little else you have." Tsukasa nodded in agreement and took the offered hand, knowing it to be true and wanting to get out of the sweat drenched clothes. Misao quickly pulled her to her feet from the bed, and began to look around for Tsukasa's pyjamas.

"Hey Imouto, where're your night things?"

"Um… they're under the bed." Tsukasa told her, as still drowsy and unresponsive hands fumbled with the sweatshirt, trying and failing to pull it over herself properly. Misao placed the younger girl's clothes behind her on the bed, and frowned as she saw her struggle with undressing.

"Here, let me." She said finally, smiling as she gave an over the top sigh of exasperation.

"Th-Thanks." Tsukasa answered, looking embarrassed at her feebleness in the face of exhaustion. Tsukasa held her arms above her head and taking the cue, the taller girl reached to her hips, where the sweatshirt hung loosely. Moving her hands to grab at it, she pulled it up over Tsukasa's head and arms slowly, so she didn't hurt her in case her head got stuck.

The young girl sighed as she was released from the hot fabric, but the pleasant feeling was almost immediately ruined as she felt the thin sweat dampened sundress cling to her skin, somehow more so than when she had been covered by the sweatshirt. For now Misao ignored it however, instead moving her so that she was sitting on the side of the bed. The yellow eyed girl kneeled down and moved her hands along Tsukasa's leg, hooking one finger under her sock and pulling it down from her ankle. She did the same again and in no time the smaller girl's toes were free.

The tiny digits curled under her curious gaze - each one painted with nail polish - and Misao couldn't help but think they looked inexplicably cute.

"Wanna do the rest yourself Imouto? Or do you still want help?" She asked, expecting her to decline. Instead of that however, Tsukasa gave a small nod.

"Th-That'd be nice…" She replied quietly.

The taller girl looked surprised, and opened her mouth to try and get herself out of it, knowing - or rather not knowing - what she might do with an undressed Tsukasa placed so tantalisingly in front of her.

"If you don't mind…" The embarrassed twin said quickly, looking disappointed. Her face was red, and her eyes wouldn't keep fixed on hers for longer than a few seconds, but she still had a small smile on her face.

"I don't mind." Misao replied on reflex, mentally reprimanding herself for thinking sexually when her friend wanted help. It made sense after all, Tsukasa was obviously still exhausted. There was no point in making her undress herself when this was so much quicker.

"Oh! But you have to promise to keep your eyes closed." She mumbled embarrassedly, trying to get up the courage to look her friend straight in the eyes but failing. "I didn't wear any bra today…" She trailed off, her cheeks burning red. The smaller girl could have stopped the entire situation at any moment, but truly didn't want to.

"Oh, okay. Promise." Misao told her, before she disarmed any shame Tsukasa could have been feeling with her next sentence. "By the way, neither did I." She whispered whilst giving a wink, causing her friend to blush red and smile sheepishly - glad to know other girls did it sometimes too.

Tsukasa took a deep breath as Misao stood back up and she did the same, though she only came up to the taller girl's chin. Misao took a step closer to her, standing only a few inches in front and put her arms out. As she felt the fingers brush her sides her heart sped up, and she felt a warm tingling sensation in the depths of her stomach. For a few seconds more Misao smiled at her, before she closed her eyes.

Now that she had closed her eyes, Tsukasa found herself watching her friend carefully, feeling a smile on her face as she watched her caring features. She wished she had the confidence to look her straight in the eyes once in a while, instead of loosing her will and looking at her feet or something else.

Misao lifted her hands and pressed them to Tsukasa's sides, realising the main fault of being unable to see was that she would have to do everything by touch. Slowly - taking her time so as not to shock the smaller girl - she trailed her hands downward, feeling as she did Tsukasa's soft skin through the thin dress.

"Ah! M-Misa-Chan!" Tsukasa laughed involuntarily as she her friend involuntarily tickled her.

"Sorry Imouto." Misao smirked, though in reality she wasn't at all for hearing that adorable laugh. For the next few minutes, Misao delighted in running her hands down the younger girl's body as slowly as possible, giggling at every stifled sound her willing victim made as she did so.

Tsukasa knew precisely what Misao was doing from the badly hidden grin that was plastered on her face, but didn't try to stop her nor did she want her to stop. Even as she realised the other girl had abandoned her pretense and was now simply touching her she didn't make any signs for to stop, guiltily enjoying the tingling sensation that came with the gentle brush of Misao's hands.

Misao kneeled down, her face level with her friends's stomach, and as those same hands finally reached her hips and slowly began to round them Tsukasa let out a barely audible squeak. She felt the heat across her face and thanked the fact Misao couldn't see her, though she was surprised to see as she looked down the light tinge of pink across her friend's face too.

The petite teenager bit her lip and cooed as she felt a thumb move around and brush teasingly at her inner thigh, making small pleasant circles only centimetres away from her most private area. In the back of her mind, she remembered Konata once telling her that aroused women let off a scent, and found herself hoping that the tingling feeling below her stomach wasn't arousal like she suspected. Or if it was that Misao wouldn't notice it from her position.

As stated earlier, Tsukasa was still innocent and inexperienced but not entirely naïve. She knew very well a line had been crossed some time ago, where friendly teasing and playfulness had ended and something completely different had started. Something she'd never experienced being done to her, but that she was enjoying a lot.

As the petite teenager saw a strange expression cross Misao's face - hesitation mixed with a rare look of worry - she realised Misao had reached the same conclusion. To Tsukasa's shameful disappointment the fanged girl's touch from that point on lacked any of the teasing brushing motions of before - even with such sensitive areas within her reach.

Finally Misao's hands reached the bottom of the sundress, and for a few seconds she stayed there, fingering the fabric almost nervously.

"Ready Imouto?"

"Uh-huh."

Slowly, taking her time so as not to shock the smaller girl, Misao lifted the dress's skirt up.

Tsukasa shivered and closed her eyes tightly as she felt the fabric lift from her legs, pulling upwards towards her hips. As it passed them she relished in the feeling of being free of the clammy material, but also blushed deeply at what she had put herself into, still unsure what she had hoped to accomplish.

She was silent until the dress was pulled over her chest, whereupon she had to bite her lower lip hard to prevent a loud moan. The soft fabric brushed tantalisingly against rapidly hardening nipples, pink nubs standing to attention and fully sensitive.

But all too soon the restrictive dress was pulled over her head and suddenly Misao had no more reason to touch her. The taller girl took a step backward, waiting to see if she'd get any more instructions, and Tsukasa almost reached to pull her hands back. There was nothing at that moment in time she really wanted more than to feel that touch return to her.

Shaking her head of the thoughts Tsukasa folded her arms in front of her chest with a deep burning blush, feeling suddenly exposed with good reason.

She turned, picking her pyjamas up from the bed with one hand whilst still covering her breasts with the other, all the while bizarre thoughts going through her mind. Simple fantasies, romantic but befittingly tame of a girl who was not in possession of a particularly sexual mind, played havoc through her mind.

The small girl shook her head rapidly, trying to get rid of both the images and the blush that spread across her cheeks and down her body. She put the top of her nightclothes on, but didn't button it, leaving it open just like Misao's was.

Tsukasa glanced backwards, just for a moment at her crush. Was there a possibility she was feeling the same way about her? It made sense after all. Sure, some of Misao's actions could be simply friendly actions. But others were beyond normal friendship, like the way the fanged girl had been touching her just a few minutes before, or the way she had constantly tried to comfort her when she was upset.

Everything could be explained by assuming her friend felt something deeper, stronger than normal friendship.

"H-Hey, Misa-Chan?" Tsukasa asked uncertainly, her voice subdued but curious. "Why do you help me so much?"

"Huh?"

"We haven't been friends very long, and we hardly know anything about one another. But you've been really nice to me." Tsukasa mumbled, trying to muster the courage to look at Misao's face as she spoke. "You've cheered me up, and bought me stuff, and you even carried me home. Why?"

Misao hardly even had to think about it.

"Because, I care about you Imouto." Her answer was short, but no more warmth could have been put into the tone had she tried. Tsukasa looked upwards at the girls face, her eyes wide and questioning, and she saw Misao's smile. It was no grin of mischief or smirk of triumph, it was the gentle smile she showed only once in a while. Tsukasa realised now exactly what it meant. Every time she used it, she was saying that sentence to someone close to her. 'I care about you'.

How many other people did she regularly give that smile to? Somehow, Tsukasa doubted the number was a high one.

"Y-You do?" Tsukasa asked, small tears coming to the edges of the emotional girl's eyes.

"Uh-huh." Misao nodded. "I don't want bad stuff to happen to you, and it makes me feel happy to know I helped you." She admitted. "That's why I like it when you rely on me." She finished, wishing she could open her eyes and see how the petite girl had reacted to what she had said.

Tsukasa couldn't help but smile at Misao's admission, feeling touched by her words. As she wiped away the dampness in her eyes with the edge of her sleeve, the petite girl took a few steps forward, until she was only a few inches away from her friend.

For a while Tsukasa just looked at her, one hand keeping the pyjama shirt closed the other pressed over her heart, feeling her rapid heartbeat and knowing who was causing it. She looked at her friend's face, admiring how cute it looked to her, how kind and calming it was. She looked downwards, and felt the heat on her cheeks and the now familiar tingling in her stomach as she saw the flesh the dressing gown didn't hide. Finally, her eyes fixed on the other girl's mouth, to those soft pink lips.

Slowly, unsure exactly of how to do it at first, Tsukasa leaned upwards and kissed Misao on those soft inviting lips. It was not a passionate kiss, nor was it particularly well executed, it was simply the expression of a young girl's stored emotion. She held it for a moment, before leaning back onto the balls of her feet.

Misao opened her eyes.

"Imouto?" She breathed, amazed. Tsukasa looked at the floor in embarrassment, her face burning red but a smile on her face. With uncharacteristic gentleness Misao took the shy girls chin in her hands and moved it so she could look into her eyes. "Are you sure about this?" Misao asked her, her tone more serious than ever, to the point Tsukasa hoped she'd never have to use it again.

"I'm sure." The small girl told her shakily, her deep blue eyes showing her conviction.

"You're not confused?" Misao asked, and then - though she didn't say it aloud - she added to herself _'You're not pretending?' _A throwback to a time long ago.

"I'm sure." Tsukasa repeated, not breaking her stare.

Misao nodded, and smiled the 'I care' smile she adored.

She leaned downwards, Tsukasa leaned upwards. They met in the middle.

The blue eyed girl shivered at the feeling as she felt Misao's mouth on her own, the sudden tingling sensation sparking across her lips as the other girl pressed her own against hers. Then another as she did it again, and another. For the first few minutes they did nothing else, their kisses getting longer and more intense as they adjusted to one another. Tsukasa closed her eyes and whined as she felt Misao bite her bottom lip gently, a sign she wanted her to open her mouth. The girl complied immediately, willing to do anything to continue the pleasure. As her lips parted she felt Misao's tongue enter her, slowly moving up and down against her own.

'_My first kiss!' _Tsukasa thought excitedly, and then - because even their family had some form of competitiveness - she thought: _'I can't believe I got my first kiss before Oneechan!'_

The small girl responded to the kiss as passionately as she could, licking at the soft velvet flesh as she kissed its owner, making increasingly loud whines and moans that went straight to her partner's sex. Misao let out a throaty moan, and Tsukasa felt her beginning to explore with more than her lips, as one hand began slowly rubbing up and down her hip and playing with the side of her underwear. Tsukasa gave a small embarrassed 'eep' as the other snaked around and grabbed firmly onto the flesh of one of her buttocks.

"You okay?" Misao gasped as she broke the kiss to ask her, thinking she had gone too fast she removed her hands.

"I'm fine." Tsukasa assured her, though she was blushing. "Um… you can put those back if you want…" She mumbled quietly, embarrassed even by saying it.

"Sorry Imouto," Misao began with a smirk, her voice mischievous. "I can't remember where they were. Maybe you can move them for me?" Tsukasa was now redder than ever, but she did as asked and placed one of the hands back on her behind.

"Th-There."

"And the other one?" The tanned girl crooned, leaning in closer with a smile. "Of course, it doesn't have to be the place it was before."

Tsukasa nodded and took the other hand in her own shaky one, moving it and eventually placing it on her inner thigh, glancing up at her friend to for reassurance. She got it in a kiss as their lips met again, as all the while Misao played with the flesh within her grasp. Tsukasa squeaked a few times as her friend trailed fingers up and down her thigh, but quickly found herself enjoying the sensation. The warm tingle below her stomach continued, and she was certain now that this was what arousal felt like.

Eventually Tsukasa grew bolder herself, and taking a deep breath reached her hands into the dressing gown that protected the fanged teenager's decency even as she continued the kiss.

Misao mewled into her mouth as tentative and inexperienced fingers rubbed over her bare nipples. The slightly shorter girl stared directly at her as they kissed, wide blue eyes searching her face for her reactions and enjoying what she saw. Her grip on the rock hard nubs increased as she realised Misao's sounds got louder as she squeezed them harder, to the point where she was doing so to a painful degree. The tanned girl made gasping sounds, feeling her knees get weak, struggling to avoid making too loud a sound as she enjoyed the rough treatment she was being given.

She forced herself to open her eyes, and found herself staring Tsukasa in the face, the small girl's innocent expression as she caused so much intense pleasure was more arousing than anything before it. She snapped.

Tsukasa got a surprise as in an instant and without any warning Misao pushed her aggressively onto the bed, so that half of her lay on her back and the other half was on the floor. She stood between her legs, preventing Tsukasa from hiding her private spot with anything more than the thin cotton underwear and however much of her pyjama top could be pulled down to cover herself. The smaller girl looked up in fear, thinking she had done something terribly wrong until she felt Misao's hand, idly trailing up and down her bare leg with the tips of her fingers.

At that moment, the younger girl looked up and saw a look of complete and utter desire. Heavy lidded eyes, slightly parted lips, a heaving chest as her friend tried to contain herself.

The taller girl grabbed her wrists roughly and pinned them to her sides, forcing her to submit and kissing her even more passionately than before. Tsukasa had to gasp breaths when she could as Misao's kisses became longer and more forceful, unable to do anything but meet the soft lips. As the tanned girl changed position to kneel on the bed she moved her knees underneath Tsukasa's legs and pushed them right up to the smaller girl's hips, to the point where the girl's limbs were more or less forced upwards into the air either side of her. Tsukasa accepted her fate almost instantly and wrapped her legs around Misao's back, willingly submitting to her whilst holding her closer than ever.

"M-Misa-Chan!" Tsukasa panted as Misao left her mouth and began kissing harder and harder up and down her neck. Without even bothering to use her hands, the fanged girl took the unbuttoned shirt's collar in her mouth and pulled it away and down, the pale skin of Tsukasa's neck her reward. Hardly able to suppress her purr, Misao kissed and sucked at the exposed flesh before drawing a long line upwards with her tongue from the shoulder to just below her ear, eventually culminating with her nibbling the girl's earlobe gently.

"Enjoying this Imouto?" Misao whispered to her, her voice thick with lust as she performed her various actions. Tsukasa could make no other response but a positive moan, a sound that made Misao smirk. She leaned back in for another kiss, and flicked her tongue over Tsukasa's lips, teasing the sensitive opening. She gave another, and another, delighting in the way that Tsukasa lifted her body from the bed to try and follow the pleasant sensation.

Finally, she moved her lips only an inch above Tsukasa's and waited for the other girl to kiss her, wanting her to be the initiator. The small girl below her responded almost instantly, and they collapsed on the bed together again - Misao releasing the girl's arms and legs, ending their temporary power play.

Their session lasted a long time afterwards, though they had to keep quiet enough to ensure no one was woken upand it was once again mainly restricted to kissing, Misao's lust temporarily sated and kept back by the concentration what little self-restraint she possessed. Eventually however the two needed to catch their breath and stopped, lying beside one another on the bed, breathing heavily. Misao looked up at the ceiling as she panted, her flushed face showing utter contentment as her thighs squeezed together, the pressure a poor substitute for what she so wished she could do right now. Tsukasa rolled onto her side to face her, still taking deep breaths and amazed at the intensity of the entire experience. The feeling in her sex was not entirely unfamiliar to her, but at no time had it ever been this strong, She moved across slightly, and lay her head on Misao's arm.

Suddenly Tsukasa's stomach growled at them, and the girl was reminded of how long it had been since she had last eaten.

"Hungry Imouto?" Misao chuckled.

"Yeah." She admitted.

"Well, I think I saw some good food left out when I was down there. I'm sure your parents won't mind if its you eating it." The tanned girl told her as she got up and stretched. "If not, I'll see what I can make you."

"No, wait Misa-Chan, I can't make you do that." Tsukasa sat up and tried to get Misao to lie back down. "I'm not that hungry, really."The taller girl turned and smiled at her.

"Imouto, what did I say before? I like helping you." She told the girl with a smile. "So don't stop me."

"O-Okay." The smaller girl replied shyly.

"I'll be back in a bit." Misao announced, before kissing her lightly on the lips and walking out of the door.

Tsukasa watched her go, and smiled. Three days had passed since she had first encountered Misao properly, and they had been… interesting.

The young girl had to wonder, what would the next few days bring?

She had no idea.

* * *

So, a lot of stuff happened this chapter. I'm sorry to say i took some of this from real life happenings. That bathroom thing was something my old friend loved doing for some reason (I never really wanted to ask her why) and well... yeah.

Anyway, i wasn't sure how to label the rating after this chapter. There are some small sexual references, but its not actual sex (i know, i led you on, but they ain't ready for that) so i'm pretty sure it isnt M. I also don't want to give people the impression this story ends in a lemon, itd be disappointing for them.


	6. Fourth Day, Sixth Step

Disclaimer: All characters, plots, settings etc. belong to their original creators only. I claim nothing.

This Bonus Chapter is not so much a bonus as it is the real ending to my fiction, so just treat it like an extra chapter that doesn't fit into my chapter naming scheme.

I'll be putting my author notes at the end today, since it will be longer than usual.

* * *

"Misa-Chan?" A tired voice asked quietly, as the girl awoke and found herself alone in her bed. Looking across she room, Tsukasa saw Misao's futon had been pulled up beside her, and the petite girl smiled at the gesture. Misao lay face down on her mattress asleep, her entire body spread across it as messily as possible, the blanket pooled around her rear and her legs - covering little else.

With a small blush on her face Tsukasa leaned out from her bed and pulled the covers back over her friend, resisting the scandalous urge in the back of her mind to remove them entirely. Misao mumbled slightly as they were moved, but soon settled down again.

'_Misa-Chan must be really tired from helping me so much.' _Tsukasa thought to herself. _'I wonder if she'll want to kiss more…' _

Tsukasa looked at her clock and noticed with amazement it was only nine in the morning, several hours before she usually woke up. Despite this she decided to get out of bed anyway, feeling less tired than usual, likely because she had gone to bed earlier. She stood up and stretched, yawning as quietly as she could to try and avoid waking Misao, feeling that the other girl deserved more rest for everything she had done for her.

On the small table in the middle of her room two empty bowls were stacked up, and Tsukasa picked them up to take downstairs. Matsuri had made her shrimp pilaf again, and there had been enough left for Misao to reheat two portions (though Tsukasa couldn't help but notice her portion had been significantly larger than what her friend had given herself).

The small girl exited her room and walked across the hallway, pausing for a few seconds outside her sister's room. She heard nothing and guessed they were probably still asleep too. The blue eyed teenager continued downstairs and entered the kitchen.

"Morning Tsukasa." The girl in question jumped in surprise at the mention of her name. Behind her Matsuri walked into the room rubbing her eyes free of sand, using a long sky blue nightshirt to maintain most of her decency.

"Good morning Oneechan." The younger sister replied politely.

"You're up early again." Matsuri commented. "Was that my pilaf?" She asked, pointing to the bowl in her sister's hands.

"Oh, yeah. Misa-Chan brought me up some last night. It was delicious."

"Thanks." Matsuri said with a smile. "Mom, Dad and Inori went out shopping early. So don't bother looking for them. How's your friend?"

"Misa-Chan's still asleep."

"Probably still tired from last night." Matsuri said as she opened the fridge and started looking for something that could consistute breakfast. "She looked it when she came in."

"She did?"

"Yeah. And you were asleep on her back, it was really cute." The older girl told her, smiling at how childish her sister was. "Don't even remember the last time I carried you like that. You're a little heavy for it now." Matsuri teased her playfully, reaching out and poked the smaller girl playfully in her soft midsection.

"I'm not am I?" Tsukasa asked with widened eyes.

"Um… calm down Tsukasa, I was joking." Matsuri told her, confused at her sister's reaction and regretting bringing weight into this. "Besides, I say stuff like that all the time and you never seem to care then. What's changed?"

"Um…"

"Boyfriend?" Her sister asked suddenly as she saw Tsukasa's hesitance, making the smaller girl jump with surprise.

"N-No!" The smaller of the two sisters burst out with a stutter, causing a wide cat like smile to appear on Matsuri's face.

"Oh wow, I was right wasn't I?" Matsuri asked in surprise, knowing from her sister's response the girl was lying to her about something.

"No!" Tsukasa tried to deny even as she turned bright red. "Besides, I haven't met any boys in the last few days, so I couldn't."

"You went out with that Misao girl, maybe you met some then?" Matsuri had stopped looking in the fridge now and was instead staring at her with as widening smirk. Tsukasa fidgeted under her sister's gaze, knowing she would eventually admit something. "Well, I'll find out eventually. Don't worry. I just hope he's cute."

Tsukasa put the bowls down next to the sink before quickly retreating from the kitchen, simultaneously concerned and embarrassed at how easily one of her sister's had noticed such a tiny change in her behaviour, though somehow she wasn't entirely surprised. After all, the sisters were close and knew each other well, it was only natural that they'd be perceptive to irregularities in one another - no matter how small.

The youngest Hiiragi girl was not used to worrying too much about her appearance, in that she tried to look presentable but rarely went out of her way to look attractive from a romantic viewpoint. She had long felt no one would be interested in her: she didn't have the more feminine body shapes that Miyuki and her sisters possessed but neither did she go to the other extreme that Konata occupied where she could be considered unique. Tsukasa had thought of herself as in between the two, bland and physically unappealing.

However, Misao's kind words to her both before and after they became more involved with each other had changed all that. Now, whenever she was worried about being unattractive all she needed to do was remember that look she had seen on her friend's face last night - that look of barely restrained lust for no one but her. No matter what, Tsukasa desperately wanted to make sure Misao never ever lost that feeling for her. That was the reason Matsuri's comment had stuck, even though she knew for facts that 1) her sister had been joking and 2) she couldn't have possibly gained noticeable weight in one night.

Her thoughts now turning to how she looked Tsukasa went into the bathroom and stared at herself in the large wall mounted mirror, giving a shocked 'eep' as she saw her reflection, thankful Misao hadn't been awake to see her. Forgetting for now about the weight comment, she concentrated on other things.

The girl who stared back at her looked tired, pale and still had sand in her eyes. In addition, her hair was oily and messed up, whilst her skin was shiny with sweat.

"_Misa-Chan probably won't wake up by herself for another few hours.'_ Tsukasa thought to herself, remembering how similar her friend was to her in that respect. _'I'll have a bath and wash my hair.' _Ordinarily, if she wanted to wash after waking up she had a shower, since having a full bath often took too long and she missed lunch, but she definitely preferred washing herself fully when she could.

Tsukasa went back inside and closed the door behind her, before stripping herself of what little clothes she was wearing, wincing slightly at the sudden drop in temperature. She couldn't help but glance at herself in the mirror for a moment - making sure to look properly before it misted up - and lamented her lack of curves.

Running the hot water tap on the bath she waited for the water to begin to turn warm before locating the large wooden bucket their family used for washing, and held it underneath, waiting for it to fill. When it was done, she left the bath's tap on so it would be full in time for her to get in.

"Tsukasa? Are you taking a bath this early?" She heard Matsuri's voice through the door, accompanied by a gentle knock.

"Yeah!" She answered, raising her voice to make sure it was heard over the sound of water filling the bathtub.

"Kay, can you put the cover over the water when you're finished? I might as well take one after you." Her second oldest sister asked her.

"Okay Oneechan."

"Thanks."

Once she was gone Tsukasa squatted on a small stool, pulling the bucket of water to her and grabbing at various assorted soaps and shampoos. In only a few minutes she had worked up a lather across her body and was busily scrubbing at her skin with a damp washcloth. After she was certain of her cleanliness she poured some of the bucket's water over herself, removing the foam which quickly escaped down the drain in the centre of the floor.

Next Tsukasa began applying the same treatment to her hair, pouring a generous glob of shampoo into her hand before rubbing it into her hair, thankful that it was shorter and therefore would be easier to wash and quicker to dry. Closing her eyes tightly, she rubbed her face over with soap before groping blindly for the bucket. Finding it she held her breath and upturned more water over herself, washing everything away.

The girl crawled in the vague direction of the towel rail, still keeping her eyes closed for fear of water getting in her eyes. Eventually however she was able to wipe at her face with a towel, clearing away unwanted water and restoring her ability to see.

Growing cold, Tsukasa hurried towards the bath. She gasped at the sudden heat as she lowered herself into the water, making a small 'oof' as the hot water passed over the different parts of her body until it was eventually past her shoulders. Their bath was fairly deep and the petite teenage girl was easily able to sink down further and further into the hot water until she could lean back and leave only her face free from the soothing warmth.

She let out a long contented sigh, and allowed herself to relax.

'_I'll have my bath, brush my teeth, put some perfume and deodorant on and then I can brush my hair and wake up Misa-Chan.' _She though happily, glad she would have time to prepare before waking her friend.

------------------------

"Misa-Chan?"

"Mmm?" Slowly, Misao raised her head from the pillow as she heard the voice. Almost immediately, she collapsed back into the soft material, not yet able to summon the willpower to force herself up. However she didn't fall back asleep, as one eye remained half open, watching her surroundings lazily for anything interesting.

"Misa-Chan? Wake up." Tsukasa knelt beside the futon dressed in a cream skirt with a matching shirt, looking down at her with the warmth of a sunbeam. Despite how tired she was, Misao smiled at the sight.

"Morning…" She mumbled sleepily. "What time is it?"

"Just a bit before eleven." Tsukasa answered.

"Do you think we have a little more time to stay in bed?"

"You want to sleep for a little longer?" The blue eyed girl asked. She had closed the curtains and kept her voice down just in case her guest wanted to sleep more, something Tsukasa knew she deserved to do if she wanted to. "I could wake you up later with breakfast if you like?" She offered, all too eager to please her.

"I didn't say 'I' Imouto, I said 'we'…"

"Huh?"

"And breakfast is right here." Misao ended suggestively, sitting up in an instant and pouncing. Though she was tired, the athletic girl was still able to unbalance her unsuspecting victim and pull her down over herself. Tsukasa found herself laying directly on top of Misao, staring her straight in the eyes, their faces only inches apart. Two hands were held around her lower back, keeping her there, with only the thin covers of the bed keeping their bodies from touching.

She blushed, knowing full well that Misao had chosen to go to sleep with her usual lack of clothes.

"M-Misa-Chan?" She asked, though she couldn't help but smile bashfully as she did so. "What are you doing?"

"Well yah see…" Misao responded with a tone that sent shivers up and down Tsukasa's spine. "My girlfriend offered me breakfast, but I'm hungry for something else…"

"Um… girlfriend?" Tsukasa asked in shock, as her body tensed on instinct.

"Yeah…" Misao responded, the tone she had been using gone, replaced with confusion. "Unless… don't you want to be?" The brown haired teenager asked, trying - but failing - to suppress the hurt look on her face.

"I'm not sure…" Tsukasa answered, leaning her forehead on Misao's shoulder, still lying over her friend as she thought. In truth, she hadn't thought about what the kiss might mean for her future, or about anything after waking her up. To have Misao call her that had just been a surprise more than anything else, but now she thought about it…"I'd be your girlfriend…" She said aloud, testing it out. It sounded… strange, but not bad exactly. The opposite actually.

"Yeah, and I'd be yours." Misao finished for her, smiling tenderly. "We'd be together."

"I-I think I'd like that." Tsukasa told her, looking up again with a shy but content look. "Misa-Chan?" The young twin asked uneasily as she burrowed back into the crook of her now-girlfriend's neck, lying beside her on the futon as they hugged, the duvet being pushed down to allow her to nuzzle bare skin.

"Yeah?"

"Can we… maybe… keep all this a secret?" The small girl asked, her once worried again eyes meeting with Misao's, this time begging her not to be mad. Instead Misao looked at her and gave that kind smile she loved.

"If you don't want anyone to know, I'll make sure no one finds out." Misao promised with a nod.

"Thank you…" Tsukasa hugged the warm body below to her even tighter, the tiny tears of happiness in her eyes dropping against Misao's neck, as the tanned girl spread light kisses on her girlfriend's head. "I know I'm being selfish right now…" She said quietly, her voice muffled.

"You're not, and I wouldn't care even if you were." Misao said quietly into her ear. "Come on, I guess we should get up after all."

Tsukasa nodded agreement and stood up, eventually sitting on her bed to wait for her girlfriend - thinking she would want to get dressed. Misao eventually stood as well, and with her back turned to her dropped the covers onto the floor, allowing Tsukasa to see how little of her body was covered by anything. The smaller girl looked to the ground on reflex - her cheeks burning at the near nude teen only two metres in front of her - but still found her eyes darting upwards to sneak a glance, feeling a little envious of her girlfriends body. The girl in front of her possessed an compact athletic figure true, but it was also firm and toned and on the whole more beautiful looking than she could ever think her own was.

As the young girl's eyes ventured further down - eventually ending up at the white bit of cotton that made up the entirety of Misao's clothes - she found her eyes widening as she saw one side had been pulled down substantially, exposing bare hip to her. _'Ah… I shouldn't be staring at Misa-Chan like this…' _She thought to herself, feeling guilty for being such a voyeur, even if her supposed victim wasn't exactly unaware of her.

Misao eventually chose to dress simplistically, picking a white pair of shorts and a matching shoulder-less shirt held up with thin straps, forgoing socks in favour of her bare feet. She walked back over to Tsukasa - knowing that she had been watching but not minding too much - and sat beside her, putting one tanned paw over the other girl's hand and squeezing lightly.

"Next time, I get to watch you dress." She joked, loving Tsukasa's shocked expression as she said it.

"Don't you care if I see you?" The smaller girl asked, realising her girlfriend hadn't really been serious.

"Not really." Misao shrugged. "I don't mind you looking if you want to. And its not as if we've done anything really serious with each other."

"Well… I did touch you there…" Tsukasa mumbled quietly, pointing shyly at Misao's chest, ashamed that she had done something as intimate as touching her without asking or even checking if it was okay.

"Yeah, I didn't expect that. Guess that's what made me go a little wild." The tanned girl smiled awkwardly at her. "Sorry if I scared yah. Ya know, pinning you down and everything."

"I… I kind of enjoyed it." Tsukasa told her quietly, looking at the floor embarrassed to admit such a bizarre thing.

"Really?" Misao asked, surprised to see Tsukasa nodding with a blush, but happy that she had had the courage to admit such a thing. "I'll have to do it again next time we kiss then." She grinned happily, exposing her fangs.

The two girls lapsed into a comfortable silence, unsure what to talk about next but not overly anxious to start another conversation. Misao put an arm around the smaller girl and drew her close, leaning back against the wall behind her and letting Tsukasa lean on her in turn.

The young twin girl put her head on her girlfriend's chest, enjoying the warmth and the heartbeat.

"We're not gonna do anything today are we?" Misao joked, looking down at the girl tenderly. She got no verbal response, instead Tsukasa leaned up and kissed her softly.

"I'd like to do something…" The smaller girl murmured to her, her tone likely the closest thing to seduction she would ever be capable of. The brown haired girl she was leaning on nodded, before kissing her back, tonguing at her lips until they were surrendered and opened to her.

Tsukasa closed her eyes and gave an unconscious whine as she felt Misao enter her, and tried to mimic her actions. Her own tongue began to reach into her girlfriend's mouth, meeting moist flesh and the sharp points of her fangs, amazed at how truly sharp they felt to her.

The orange eyed teen unbalanced as Tsukasa pressed into her further, falling with a dull 'fwump' sideways onto the mattress. Almost immediately upon doing so she felt the light weight on her as Tsukasa mounted her stomach, legs kneeling either side and skirt short enough to ride up and expose something Misao couldn't say she wanted to see - not for lack of attraction, but for the worry of what she might attempt to do if she went out of control.

Misao blushed at the thought of Tsukasa flashing her if she even moved an inch, and this only increased as the smaller girl's hands hovered over her breasts.

"Can…. I touch them again?" She asked, hardly able to keep the eye contact necessary for such an intimate request. The two mounds weren't huge, a little smaller than her sister's though they were definitely still larger than hers. But they fit Misao's athletic body perfectly, and the way the white shirt clung to them emphasised everything there was. Tsukasa guessed Misao was just into being a B-cup, whilst she was barely an A-cup herself.

Misao looked at her - breathing heavily - and nodded.

"But… don't lift up my shirt." She told her, the uncertainty of her normally confident voice immediately worrying Tsukasa.

"Misa-Chan? Are you okay?" She asked with a guilty look on her face, convinced it was something she was doing that was upsetting her.

"I'm fine Imouto." Misao smiled at her, the knowledge that her precious Tsukasa was concerned for her giving a warm feeling to her body. "I just… don't want us to go too fast." _'This isn't happening like last time.' _

"Sorry…" The smaller girl retracted her hands.

"Do you want to touch me there?" Misao asked.

Tsukasa nodded, her face red from admitting her shameful desire. The girl below her smiled, before gently taking the other girl's hands in her own and placing them on her breasts, ending the discussion with action. "Okay… but I'm gonna do the same in a minute." Misao winked.

Tsukasa - inexperienced and unsure what to do now that she was in control of the situation - leaned down and shyly began to kiss her girlfriend once again, her hair hanging down over her eyes slightly since hadn't yet tied the bow in her hair. Below her she experimented with kneading the soft orbs in her grip, eliciting encouraging sighs and rubs from her partner even as they kissed. As she kissed more passionately she squeezed harder, not noticing the discomfort on Misao's face.

"A-Aha! Ow!" Misao flinched and broke the kiss, twisting on reflex to pull her chest away from her girlfriend. "A little softer please Imouto, it hurts too much if you do that on the soft part."

"Sorry…" Tsukasa put her hands back on the soft flesh again, reminding herself not to use too much pressure. As she put her hands back she felt two tiny but unmistakable bumps through the fabric and knew instantly what she was going to do. It had been her treatment of these that had caused her girlfriend to lose control last night, and control was not something Tsukasa wanted her to have.

Misao fell back as Tsukasa stopped kissing her, focusing everything on touching her chest. She breathed out a deep sigh as she felt her nipples rubbed through the thin shirt, relaxing with a smile whilst her girlfriend pleased her - watching with interest her expression of concentration mixed with shyness.

The brown haired girl twitched a bit as the inexperienced fingers managed to get a grip on her hardened nubs through the fabric, closing her eyes and sighing as the feeling resonated with another part of her. Abruptly, Tsukasa's left hand let go and returned to kneading her breast. The right however did not, and remained where it was squeezing the sensitive teat tighter between thumb and the side of her forefinger.

The smaller girl watched in fascination the look on her girlfriends face as she alternated the strength of her grip, almost able to see the feelings through Misao's nerves as she twitched in response. Tsukasa took her left hand and retook her grip on Misao's free nub, wanting to increase the feeling, amazed that doing something to such a small bit of flesh could have such consequences, and that her girlfriend seemed to enjoy what she was sure would be really pretty painful for herself.

Now she noticed that Misao wasn't making her quiet relaxed breaths anymore, instead they were shallower and closer together, through her open mouth instead of her nose. Her eyes were glazed, and her thighs squeezed tightly together.

"My turn…" Misao panted huskily, despite the pleasure she was getting from those two erect nubs. Tsukasa nodded to her and got up without a word, standing patiently at the foot of the bed, waiting.

Misao knew immediately what she wanted, she wanted her to be as dominant as she had last night, that was the reason she had wanted to play with her like that too.

"You want me to hold you down when I kiss you?" Misao asked as she got up, a smirk coming onto her face now she knew Tsukasa did genuinely enjoy the rougher treatment she gave her. She got an embarrassed nod for her question, and in a flash had pushed her girlfriend back onto the bed, mimicking what they had done last night almost perfectly, though this time Tsukasa was able to lie flat on her back instead of being half on the floor.

She lay there, her eyes wide and innocent, her short hair splayed out across the covers.

Like a predator stalking its quarry, Misao crawled over the bed on all fours until she was right above the other girl, who looked at her with shy, timid expectation. She took her smaller partners wrists in her hands, and pressed them firmly to the sides, looking down at her with a hungry smile that made Tsukasa shiver.

Misao leaned in and lapped at her girlfriends neck, starting at her throat and moving around, every so often scraping her teeth against the flesh to give some redness, loving the squeaks her prey made at the feeling. She trailed down, to the place where Tsukasa's neck met her shoulders, choosing her spot carefully before opening her jaws and striking.

Tsukasa gasped as Misao's mouth locked around her neck, unsure of exactly what was going on. Four pinpricks across her skin told her where the fangs were pressing on her, so sharp she was sure if she moved too much she would be hurt. Despite this she wasn't afraid nor was she uncomfortable - the opposites in fact - her trust in her girlfriend absolute.

"Misa-Chan?" She asked timidly as Misao's body warm pinned her down. Slowly, her tongue began to lick at the captured flesh, running up and down, almost like a cat licking at it's milk. Tsukasa bit her lip as her girlfriend began to apply suction, inadvertently pulling the smaller girl's flesh harder against her sharp teeth. "N-Not a love bite…" She protested weakly, though the submissive girl knew there was no way of stopping her girlfriend, and that in truth she hardly wanted her to stop.

Misao paid no heed, instead she held Tsukasa's wrists tighter and more firmly against the bed as she sucked harder, enjoying the sounds the other girl made as she squirmed underneath her. She pulled back after a few more seconds, admiring the large bruise she had made on Tsukasa's neck as the young girl turned red in embarrassment.

As Misao allowed one of her hands to go free Tsukasa sat up and probed at the tender flesh, worried about how noticeable it would until she realised how low down it was - It would only be visible if her collar was pulled wrong, and even then she could just wear a jacket.

"I'm not finished with you…" Misao crooned as she took hold of her wrists again and pushed her girlfriend back down, kneeling over her stomach with a grin on her face as she pressed a slightly overly forceful kiss onto the girl below. "Just don't forget to struggle."

Tsukasa nodded her understanding, breathing unsteadily. She had been planning on it anyway.

* * *

"Kagami…" Konata yawned from her futon.

"Huh?" The other girl asked from her bed, sounding just a tired.

"I'm sleepy…"

"Don't wake me up to tell me that…" Kagami responded closing her eyes again.

"Guess its my fault for keeping us both up last night." Konata said, more to herself. In her bed the pigtailed girl nodded, before realising Konata couldn't see and grunting an affirmative. "It was a good movie though, wasn't it?"

"Yeah. I liked it." Kagami admitted. "Still, two and a half hours? A little much for a movie."

"Well, it was the super special uncut version." The short girl pointed out, somehow able to still sound enthusiastic, even with a voice that mumbled half the syllables and speech broken up more by yawns than actual pauses. "Only two hundred copies and I've got three!" She announced proudly, her hand pointing dramatically at the ceiling before it succumbed to fatigue and fell back down beside her on the mattress.

"Didn't know that rule extended to DVDs too."

"Not everyday stuff I can replace easily, but it does with limited additions things." Konata answered. "What time is it?"

Kagami flipped over and checked her bedside alarm clock.

"Crap, its eleven. We're gonna have to get up."

"Why?"

"Because if I don't wake Tsukasa up soon she won't be fully awake until mid-afternoon, and she wont study."

"Maybe she's already awake?" Konata suggested, knowing that if her friend got up she would probably have to as well.

"Yeah right. This is Tsukasa we're talking about."

"Misao could have woken her up."

"Kusakabe's just as bad a sleeper as she is." Kagami huffed, pulling herself from the bed with a grunt. Unlike Konata who had gone in some shorts and a tank top, she had worn her pyjamas and so was okay to wander around without dressing more. "By the way, you can stay in bed for a while, but you're getting up eventually."

"Heh, no breakfast in bed from my Kagamin?" Konata asked, putting a puppy dog face on.

"Not a chance." Kagami smirked before grabbing her dressing gown and exiting the room. She had just about forgiven her friends for their merry attack on her in the bathroom, after Konata had begged her for forgiveness and pledged to a whole range of her demands. She didn't really need much of an apology from her other friend, since she knew Konata was undoubtedly the ringleader in this little operation. Misao's jokes were usually more psychological than simple physical ones anyway - strange when you considered the person herself was about as simple and physical as they came.

Still, some of her past gems included taking a load of stuff from her entire bookcase then rearranging the volumes so it looked normal, making hundreds of copies of the same (terrible) CD to replace her entire music collection and of course her most damning yet. It was a truly terrifying look into the mind of her friend when you knew that she thought memorising all the clothes you owned, spending all of her own birthday money on buying smaller replacements and then replacing everything in her friend's wardrobe just to make her think she had gone up in size was a good use of time.

That had taken her days to figure out, Kagami had been sure she was getting wider.

She sighed. It seemed like Misao had been pulling tricks like this since the day she had met her. And that was because she had been. Kagami had never managed to get an explanation out of the girl in question, but Ayano had once pulled her aside and begged her not to get mad. It was easy for her to say those kinds of things though, Misao had never even thought of playing pranks on her childhood friend. In fact, there had only been one time anyone had tried that, in their second year at their last school.

Kagami never found out what the boy had done, and she wasn't sure if Misao had either, but whatever it had been it had made Ayano cry for two days straight. Misao responded to this by taking the boy responsible, beating him up and then putting his head in a drawer and trying to make him two dimensional. She had only narrowly avoided expulsion for that, since no one thought a little girl should have been able to do all that to a boy at least four years her senior.

'_I guess her jokes aren't really malicious.' _Kagami thought to herself. In fact, they were rarely if ever meant to even embarrass her. Usually they were just designed to mess with her head - a little cruel sometimes, but never over the top. _'I guess she's a nice girl, even despite all the stuff she does. I've never seen her hurt anyone who didn't deserve it.'_

The pigtailed girl tried to think of something nice to say to Misao when she woke her along with Tsukasa, smiling as she did.

Then, she opened her sister's door.

Kagami stared. She stared for a full minute as her brain failed to comprehend the scene it was presented with.

She saw Misao, holding her sister down forcefully with one hand.

She saw her kissing her whilst she whined and struggled.

She saw one hand on Tsukasa's shirt, and the pained look her twin had on her face as she was groped roughly.

She saw one of her best friends lean forwards and bite her sister's neck.

She saw the way Tsukasa inhaled sharply in pain as it happened.

Her senses seemed to melt away. Now she realised only thing she could hear was the roar of blood in her ears, and her own furiously fast heartbeat along with it. Misao seemed to notice her, and looked up in surprise. And then after glancing quickly at her sister, she sneered cruelly, and said something to her.

At first Kagami had no idea what she had said, she was too overwhelmed for her brain to accept new information. But gradually, something inside her registered the words. The tone. The expression. The betrayal.

In an instant she was one the other side of the room, screaming as she punched her friend as hard as she could, sending her friend to the floor.

And then, she leapt on her and punched again.

She would wonder later if there was a word for what she had felt, but she didn't think there was. The world recognised the maternal and even the paternal instinct. But it didn't seem to have yet given a name to the intense feeling an older sibling to protect her little sister.

* * *

Misao played her videogames pretty badly. But she played games in real life like an expert.

'_Don't worry Tsukasa, Hiiragi won't see through this in a million years.'_

Improvisation was her forte, but this deception was a masterpiece.

She had to smile, even as she felt her lip split from another punch.

* * *

Tsukasa watched as her sister struck her own childhood friend, so devastated she felt somewhat detached from the moment. She didn't wonder why her only just girlfriend had said such a horrible thing, because she knew it wasn't the truth. She had to believe it wasn't the truth.

Yes, she didn't need to wonder about it. She knew exactly why Misao would say something so infuriating, so likely to provoke violence.

It was for exactly that reason. Because she _had _to provoke a response like that.

When her mind came back to reality, she pulled her sister from the bloodied girl.

* * *

There, we are finally done. The explanation and resolution to this ending will be give in the prologue to my next fiction.

It was a lot of fun doing this fiction, but also a lot of work. The sequel is certainly something im looking forward to doing, and i will begin almost immediatly. However, i do not intend to be stuck writing one universe for the next year (because its gonna take a lot of planning and drafts people), so i will be writing the occasional one/two shot in another universe. I also plan on a Lucky Star lemon story at some point, so look out for that if your an adult reader.

About the ending, i congratulate you if you understand what's really going on with Misao's plans. I put in just enough hints that some may get it, and others might not. Lot of fun that. The sequel is sure to have a little more conflict, but dont worry. i will never delve too deep into the depths of angst. Anger maybe, but not angst.

Id like to end this by thanking everyone who reviewed and read, your far too numerous to list right here (especially since ive got to get this chapter out quick! Im exhausted and i want to post it before i go to bed!) but your all very much appreciated. I look forward to hearing your oppinions on my next piece. I dont know what ill name it... perhaps... nah.

Now go forth, go forth and write fluff so that i may have something to read! And bombard Weluvgirlswithglasses' inbox with messages telling them to update already! And funny third thing!


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